Optimism
YOU tell me, with a little scorn,A pitying blame in look and touch,Of conscious worldly-wisdom born,That I am hopeful over much;
That all my swans are veriest geese,My cheerfulness an easy ventFor animal spirits, and my peaceA cheap, contemptible content;
That it is shallow to be glad,Idle to hope and vain to trust,Because all good is mixed with bad,And men are liars, and flesh is dust;
That wisdom grimly prophesies,And sits distrustful and alert,Peering with far, experienced eyesFor what may cheat and what may hurt.
I do not know if you are right;But these I hold as certainties:That God made day as well as night,And joy as well as pain is his;
That if philosophy means doubt,And wisdom boding discontents,Men may do better far withoutThese all-divine accomplishments!
That souls are stronger to endureThe heavy woes which all may taste,If, holding to God’s promise sure,They wait his time, not making haste
To grieve, anticipating ill;How shall they know what sweet, hid thingHe keeps in store for souls who stillFollow his beck unquestioning?
Joy is the lesson set for some,For others pain best teacher is;We know not which for us shall come,But both are Heaven’s high ministries.
The swollen torrent rages high;The path ahead is steep and wet.What then? We still are safe and dry;We need not cross that torrent yet!
Perhaps the waters may subside;There may be paths which skirt the flood.God holds our hand. With him for guideWe need not fear; for he is good.
Meanwhile there is the sun, the sky,And life the joy, and love the zest;And, spite of scorn and pity, IWill taste to-day, and trust the rest.
Words in this poem
- pitying a.
- Expressing pity; as, a pitying eye, glance, or word.
- hopeful a.
- Full of hope, or agreeable expectation; inclined to hope; expectant.
- grimly a.
- Grim; hideous; stern.
- boding a.
- Foreshowing; presaging; ominous.
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- ahead adv.
- In or to the front; in advance; onward. [Pref. a- + head.]
- meanwhile n.
- The intervening time; as, in the meantime (or mean time).
- zest n.
- A piece of orange or lemon peel, or the aromatic oil which may be squeezed from such peel, used to give flavor to liquor, etc. [F. zeste, probably fr. L. schistos split, cleft, divided, Gr. Schism.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Optimism 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, Optimism, in A Few More Verses (1889), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #49518, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/coolidge-few-more-verses/optimism.html, id L23446.
Form and metre
Optimism is 48 lines in 12 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABAB. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%).
See other poems in iambic tetrameter.
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 ABAB scornA · touchB · bornA · muchB
- 2 ABAB geeseA · ventB · peaceA · contentB
- 3 ABAB gladA · trustB · badA · dustB
- 4 ABAB prophesiesA · alertB · eyesA · hurtB
- 5 ABAB rightA · certaintiesB · nightA · hisB
- 6 ABAB doubtA · discontentsB · withoutA · accomplishmentsB
- 7 ABAB endureA · tasteB · sureA · hasteB
- 8 ABAB illA · thingB · stillA · unquestioningB
- 9 ABAB someA · isB · comeA · ministriesB
- 10 ABAB highA · wetB · dryA · yetB
- 11 ABAB subsideA · floodB · guideA · goodB
- 12 ABAB skyA · zestB · iA · restB
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 tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| YOU tell me, with a little scorn, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| A pitying blame in look and touch, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Of conscious worldly-wisdom born, | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| That I am hopeful over much; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| That all my swans are veriest geese, | 8 | ········ |
| My cheerfulness an easy vent | 8 | ·/˘˘·/˘· |
| For animal spirits, and my peace | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| A cheap, contemptible content; | 8 | ··˘/˘˘˘/ |
| That it is shallow to be glad, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Idle to hope and vain to trust, | 8 | /˘······ |
| Because all good is mixed with bad, | 8 | ········ |
| And men are liars, and flesh is dust; | 8 | ···/···· |
| That wisdom grimly prophesies, | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘˘ |
| And sits distrustful and alert, | 8 | ··˘/˘·˘/ |
| Peering with far, experienced eyes | 8 | /˘··˘/˘· |
| For what may cheat and what may hurt. | 8 | ········ |
| I do not know if you are right; | 8 | ········ |
| But these I hold as certainties: | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| That God made day as well as night, | 8 | ········ |
| And joy as well as pain is his; | 8 | ········ |
| That if philosophy means doubt, | 8 | ··˘/˘˘·· |
| And wisdom boding discontents, | 8 | ·/˘/˘·˘/ |
| Men may do better far without | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| These all-divine accomplishments! | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘˘ |
| That souls are stronger to endure | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| The heavy woes which all may taste, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| If, holding to God’s promise sure, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| They wait his time, not making haste | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| To grieve, anticipating ill; | 8 | ··˘/˘·˘· |
| How shall they know what sweet, hid thing | 8 | ········ |
| He keeps in store for souls who still | 8 | ········ |
| Follow his beck unquestioning? | 8 | /˘··˘/˘˘ |
| Joy is the lesson set for some, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| For others pain best teacher is; | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| We know not which for us shall come, | 8 | ········ |
| But both are Heaven’s high ministries. | 9 | ···/˘·/˘˘ |
| The swollen torrent rages high; | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| The path ahead is steep and wet. | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| What then? We still are safe and dry; | 8 | ········ |
| We need not cross that torrent yet! | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Perhaps the waters may subside; | 8 | ˘/·/˘·˘/ |
| There may be paths which skirt the flood. | 8 | ········ |
| God holds our hand. With him for guide | 8 | ··/····· |
| We need not fear; for he is good. | 8 | ········ |
| Meanwhile there is the sun, the sky, | 8 | /······· |
| And life the joy, and love the zest; | 8 | ········ |
| And, spite of scorn and pity, I | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Will taste to-day, and trust the rest. | 8 | ········ |
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