ASSURED of worthiness we do not dread Competitors; we rather give them hail And greeting in the lists where we may fail: Must, if we bear an aim beyond the head! My betters are my masters: purely fed By their sustainment I likewise shall scale Some rocky steps between the mount and vale; Meanwhile the mark I have and I will wed. So that I draw the breath of finer air, Station is nought, nor footways laurel-strewn, Nor rivals tightly belted for the race. Good speed to them! My place is here or there; My pride is that among them I have place: And thus I keep this instrument in tune. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...TRANSPOSITIONS by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON WASHING-DAY by ANNA LETITIA BARBAULD MOTHERHOOD by CHARLES STUART CALVERLEY SONG OF THE RABBITS OUTSIDE THE TAVERN by ELIZABETH JANE COATSWORTH HYMN TO MONT BLANC [IN THE VALE OF CHAMOUNI] by SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE OF A BAD SINGER; EPIGRAM by SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE EPIGRAM: HERO AND LEANDER by JOHN DONNE |