WHEN THINGS GO WRONG, as they sometimes will, When the road you're trudging seems all up hill, When the funds are low and the debts are high, And you want to smile, but you have to sigh, When care is pressing you down a bit, Rest, if you must -- but don't you quit. Life is queer with its twists and turns, As everyone of us sometimes learns, And many a failure turns about When he might have won had he stuck it out; Don't give up, though the pace seems slow -- You might succeed with another blow. Often the goal is nearer than It seems to a faint and faltering man, Often the struggler has given up When he might have captured the victor's cup. And he learned too late, when the night slipped down, How close he was to the golden crown. Success is failure turned inside out -- The silver tint of the clouds of doubt -- And you never can tell how close you are, It may be near when it seems afar; So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit -- It's when things seem worst that you mustn't quit. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...DOWN BY THE CARIB SEA: 5. THE DANCING GIRL by JAMES WELDON JOHNSON IRELAND; WRITTEN FOR THE ART AUTOGRAPH DURING IRISH FAMINE by SIDNEY LANIER ON THE PROPOSAL TO ERECT A MONUMENT IN ENGLAND TO LORD BYRON by EMMA LAZARUS THE RING AND THE CASTLE by AMY LOWELL THE SONG OF THE SHEPHERDS by EDWIN MARKHAM LIKE A BULRUSH by MARIANNE MOORE PLACES 1. TWILIGHT (TUCSON) by SARA TEASDALE |