Laurel · Susan Coolidge · A Few More Verses

End and Means

Susan Coolidge (1835–1905) · 1889

iambic pentameter · heroic couplets · 30 lines · from A Few More Verses

WE spend our strength in labor day by day,We find new strength replacing old alway;And still we cheat ourselves, and still we say:

“No man would work except to win some prize;We work to turn our hopes to certainties,—For gold, or gear, or favor in men’s eyes.”

And all the while the goal toward which we strain—Up hill and down, in sunshine and in rain,Heedless of toil, if so we may attain—

Is but a lure, a heavenly-set decoyTo exercised endeavor, full employOf every power, which is man’s highest joy.

And work becomes the end, reward the means,To woo us from our idleness and dreams;And each is truly what the other seems.So, Lord, with such poor service as we do,

Thy full salvation is our prize in view,For which we long, and which we press unto.

Like a great star on which we fix our eyes,It dazzles from the high, blue distances,And seems to beckon and to say, “Arise!”

And we arise and follow the hard way,Winning a little nearer day by day,Our hearts going faster than our footsteps may;

And never guess the secret sweet deviceWhich lures us on and upward to the skies,And makes each toil its own reward and prize.

To give our little selves to thee, to blendOur weakness with thy strength, O Lord our Friend,This is life’s truest privilege and end.

Words in this poem

sunshine n.: The light of the sun, or the place where it shines; the direct rays of the sun, the place where they fall, or the warmth and light which they give.
beckon v. t.: To make a significant sign to; hence, to summon, as by a motion of the hand.

Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.

About this text

End and Means is in the public domain. This text is taken from A Few More Verses, Project Gutenberg ebook #49518; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.

Cite as: Susan Coolidge, End and Means, in A Few More Verses (1889), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #49518, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/coolidge-few-more-verses/end-and-means.html, id L23417.

Form and metre

End and Means is 30 lines in 10 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 53% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%).

See other poems in heroic couplets, other poems in iambic pentameter.

Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.

Rhyme words, stanza by stanza

The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.

1 A-A day^A · alway · say^A
2 AAA prize^A · certainties^A · eyes^A
3 AAA strain^A · rain^A · attain^A
4 AAA decoy^A · employ^A · joy^A
5 -AA- means · dreams^A · seems^A · do
7 AAA eyes^A · distances^A · arise^A
8 AAA way^A · day^A · may^A
9 -AA device · skies^A · prize^A
10 AAA blend^A · friend^A · end^A

Scansion, line by line

Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic pentameter. How this is done.

Line	Syl.	Stress
WE spend our strength in labor day by day,	10	··/··/˘···
We find new strength replacing old alway;	10	····˘/˘·/˘
And still we cheat ourselves, and still we say:	10	····˘/····
“No man would work except to win some prize;	10	··········
We work to turn our hopes to certainties,—	11	····/˘··/˘˘
For gold, or gear, or favor in men’s eyes.”	10	·····/˘···
And all the while the goal toward which we strain—	11	···········
Up hill and down, in sunshine and in rain,	10	·····/····
Heedless of toil, if so we may attain—	10	/˘······˘/
Is but a lure, a heavenly-set decoy	10	·····/˘·˘/
To exercised endeavor, full employ	10	·/˘·˘/˘·˘/
Of every power, which is man’s highest joy.	10	·/˘/···/˘·
And work becomes the end, reward the means,	10	··˘/··˘/··
To woo us from our idleness and dreams;	10	····//˘˘··
And each is truly what the other seems.	10	···/˘··/˘·
So, Lord, with such poor service as we do,	10	·····/˘···
Thy full salvation is our prize in view,	10	··˘/˘·/···
For which we long, and which we press unto.	10	··········
Like a great star on which we fix our eyes,	10	········/·
It dazzles from the high, blue distances,	10	·/˘····/˘˘
And seems to beckon and to say, “Arise!”	10	···/˘···˘/
And we arise and follow the hard way,	10	··˘/·/˘···
Winning a little nearer day by day,	10	/˘·/˘/˘···
Our hearts going faster than our footsteps may;	10	/·//˘·//··
And never guess the secret sweet device	10	·/˘··/˘·˘/
Which lures us on and upward to the skies,	10	·····/˘···
And makes each toil its own reward and prize.	10	······˘/··
To give our little selves to thee, to blend	10	··//˘·····
Our weakness with thy strength, O Lord our Friend,	10	//˘·····/·
This is life’s truest privilege and end.	9	···/˘/˘··

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A Few More Verses