Forward
LET me stand still upon the height of life;Much has been won, though much there is to win.I am a little weary of the strife;Let me stand still awhile, nor count it sinTo cool my hot brow, ease the travel pain,And then address me to the road again.
Long was the way, and steep and hard the climb;Sore are my limbs, and fain I am to rest.Behind me lie long sandy tracks of time;Before me rises the steep mountain crest.Let me stand still; the journey is half done,And when less weary I will travel on.
There is no standing still! Even as I pause,The steep path shifts and I slip back apace.Movement was safety; by the journey-lawsNo help is given, no safe abiding-place,No idling in the pathway hard and slow:I must go forward, or must backward go!
I will go up then, though the limbs may tire,And though the path be doubtful and unseen;Better with the last effort to expireThan lose the toil and struggle that have been,And have the morning strength, the upward strain,The distance conquered, in the end made vain.
Ah, blessed law! for rest is tempting sweet,And we would all lie down if so we might;And few would struggle on with bleeding feet,And few would ever gain the higher height,Except for the stern law which bids us knowWe must go forward or must backward go.
Words in this poem
- strife n.
- The act of striving; earnest endeavor. [OF. estrif. See Strive.]
- awhile adv.
- For a while; for some time; for a short time. [Adj. a + while time, interval.]
- fain v. t.
- To be glad ; to wish or desire.
- apace adv.
- With a quick pace; quick; fast; speedily. [Pref. a- + pace. OE. a pas at a walk, in which a is the article. See Pace.]
- pathway n.
- A footpath; a beaten track; any path or course. Also used figuratively.
- unseen a.
- Not seen or discovered.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Forward 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, Forward, in A Few More Verses (1889), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #49518, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/coolidge-few-more-verses/forward.html, id L23442.
Form and metre
Forward is 30 lines in 5 stanzas of 6 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABABCC, complete in 3 of its 5 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%).
See 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 ABABCC lifeA · winB · strifeA · sinB · painC · againC
- 2 ABAB-- climbA · restB · timeA · crestB · done · on
- 3 ABABCC pauseA · apaceB · lawsA · placeB · slowC · goC
- 4 ----AA tire · unseen · expire · been · strainA · vainA
- 5 ABABCC sweetA · mightB · feetA · heightB · knowC · goC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| LET me stand still upon the height of life; | 10 | ·········· |
| Much has been won, though much there is to win. | 10 | ·········· |
| I am a little weary of the strife; | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Let me stand still awhile, nor count it sin | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| To cool my hot brow, ease the travel pain, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| And then address me to the road again. | 10 | ··˘/····˘/ |
| Long was the way, and steep and hard the climb; | 10 | ·········· |
| Sore are my limbs, and fain I am to rest. | 10 | ·········· |
| Behind me lie long sandy tracks of time; | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Before me rises the steep mountain crest. | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Let me stand still; the journey is half done, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| And when less weary I will travel on. | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| There is no standing still! Even as I pause, | 10 | ···/˘·/··· |
| The steep path shifts and I slip back apace. | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Movement was safety; by the journey-laws | 10 | /˘·/˘··/˘· |
| No help is given, no safe abiding-place, | 10 | ···/··˘/˘· |
| No idling in the pathway hard and slow: | 10 | ·/˘··/···· |
| I must go forward, or must backward go! | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| I will go up then, though the limbs may tire, | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| And though the path be doubtful and unseen; | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| Better with the last effort to expire | 10 | /˘···/˘·˘/ |
| Than lose the toil and struggle that have been, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| And have the morning strength, the upward strain, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| The distance conquered, in the end made vain. | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| Ah, blessed law! for rest is tempting sweet, | 10 | ··˘····/˘· |
| And we would all lie down if so we might; | 10 | ·········· |
| And few would struggle on with bleeding feet, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| And few would ever gain the higher height, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Except for the stern law which bids us know | 10 | ·········· |
| We must go forward or must backward go. | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.