For the Man Who Fails
The world is a snob, and the man who winsIs the chap for its money's worth:And the lust for success causes half of the sinsThat are cursing this brave old earth.For it 's fine to go up, and the world's applauseIs sweet to the mortal ear;But the man who fails in a noble causeIs a hero that 's no less dear.
'T is true enough that the laurel crownTwines but for the victor's brow;For many a hero has lain him downWith naught but the cypress bough.There are gallant men in the losing fight,And as gallant deeds are doneAs ever graced the captured heightOr the battle grandly won.
We sit at life's board with our nerves highstrung,And we play for the stake of Fame,And our odes are sung and our banners hungFor the man who wins the game.But I have a song of another kindThan breathes in these fame-wrought gales,--An ode to the noble heart and mindOf the gallant man who fails!
The man who is strong to fight his fight,And whose will no front can daunt,If the truth be truth and the right be right,Is the man that the ages want.Tho' he fail and die in grim defeat,Yet he has not fled the strife,And the house of Earth will seem more sweetFor the perfume of his life.
Words in this poem
- snob n.
- A vulgar person who affects to be better, richer, or more fashionable, than he really is; a vulgar upstart; one who apes his superiors. Thackeray. [Icel. snapr a dolt, impostor, charlatan. Cf. Snub.]
- lust v. i.
- To list; to like. [AS. lystan. See Lust, n., and cf. List to choose.]
- graced a.
- Endowed with grace; beautiful; full of graces; honorable.
- grandly adv.
- In a grand manner.
- daunt v. t.
- To overcome; to conquer. [OF. danter, F. dompter to tame, subdue, fr. L. domitare, v. intens. of domare to tame. See Tame.]
- defeat v. t.
- To undo; to disfigure; to destroy. [From F. défait, OF. desfait, p. p. ofe défaire, OF. desfaire, to undo; L. dis- + facere to do. See Feat, Fact, and cf. Disfashion.]
- strife n.
- The act of striving; earnest endeavor. [OF. estrif. See Strive.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
For the Man Who Fails is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Complete Poems of Paul Laurence Dunbar, Project Gutenberg ebook #18338; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Paul Laurence Dunbar, For the Man Who Fails, in The Complete Poems (1893–1905), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #18338, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/dunbar-poems/for-the-man-who-fails.html, id L00649.
Form and metre
For the Man Who Fails is 32 lines in 4 stanzas of 8 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABABCDCD. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 78%). 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.6 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 38% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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 ABABCDCD winsA · worthB · sinsA · earthB · applauseC · earD · causeC · dearD
- 2 ABABCDCD crownA · browB · downA · boughB · fightC · doneD · heightC · wonD
- 3 ABABCDCD highstrungA · fameB · hungA · gameB · kindC · galesD · mindC · failsD
- 4 ABABCDCD fightA · dauntB · rightA · wantB · defeatC · strifeD · sweetC · lifeD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| The world is a snob, and the man who wins | 10 | ·········· |
| Is the chap for its money's worth: | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And the lust for success causes half of the sins | 12 | ····˘//˘···· |
| That are cursing this brave old earth. | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| For it 's fine to go up, and the world's applause | 12 | ··········˘/ |
| Is sweet to the mortal ear; | 7 | ····/˘· |
| But the man who fails in a noble cause | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Is a hero that 's no less dear. | 9 | ··/˘····· |
| 'T is true enough that the laurel crown | 10 | ···˘/··/˘· |
| Twines but for the victor's brow; | 7 | ····/˘· |
| For many a hero has lain him down | 9 | ·/·/˘···· |
| With naught but the cypress bough. | 7 | ····/˘· |
| There are gallant men in the losing fight, | 10 | ··/˘···/˘· |
| And as gallant deeds are done | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| As ever graced the captured height | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Or the battle grandly won. | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| We sit at life's board with our nerves highstrung, | 10 | ······/·/˘ |
| And we play for the stake of Fame, | 8 | ········ |
| And our odes are sung and our banners hung | 10 | ·/····//˘· |
| For the man who wins the game. | 7 | ······· |
| But I have a song of another kind | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| Than breathes in these fame-wrought gales,-- | 7 | ······· |
| An ode to the noble heart and mind | 9 | ····/˘··· |
| Of the gallant man who fails! | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| The man who is strong to fight his fight, | 9 | ········· |
| And whose will no front can daunt, | 7 | ······· |
| If the truth be truth and the right be right, | 10 | ·········· |
| Is the man that the ages want. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Tho' he fail and die in grim defeat, | 9 | ·······˘/ |
| Yet he has not fled the strife, | 7 | ······· |
| And the house of Earth will seem more sweet | 9 | ········· |
| For the perfume of his life. | 7 | ··˘/··· |
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.