Resolve
Build on resolve, and not upon regret,The structure of thy future. Do not gropeAmong the shadows of old sins, but letThine own soul's light shine on the path of hopeAnd dissipate the darkness. Waste no tearsUpon the blotted record of lost years,But turn the leaf and smile, oh, smile, to seeThe fair white pages that remain for thee.
Prate not of thy repentance. But believeThe spark divine dwells in thee: let it grow.That which the upreaching spirit can achieveThe grand and all-creative forces know;They will assist and strengthen as the lightLifts up the acorn to the oak tree's height.Thou hast but to resolve, and lo! God's wholeGreat universe shall fortify thy soul.
Words in this poem
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- 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,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Resolve is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems of Passion, Project Gutenberg ebook #16776; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Ella Wheeler Wilcox, Resolve, in Poems of Passion (1883), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #16776, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/wilcox-passion/resolve.html, id L22201.
Form and metre
Resolve is 16 lines in 2 stanzas of 8 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABABCCDD. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%).
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 ABABCCDD regretA · gropeB · letA · hopeB · tearsC · yearsC · seeD · theeD
- 2 ABABCCDD believeA · growB · achieveA · knowB · lightC · heightC · wholeD · soulD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Build on resolve, and not upon regret, | 10 | ··˘/····˘/ |
| The structure of thy future. Do not grope | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Among the shadows of old sins, but let | 10 | ···/······ |
| Thine own soul's light shine on the path of hope | 10 | ·········· |
| And dissipate the darkness. Waste no tears | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Upon the blotted record of lost years, | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| But turn the leaf and smile, oh, smile, to see | 10 | ·········· |
| The fair white pages that remain for thee. | 10 | ···/˘·˘/·· |
| Prate not of thy repentance. But believe | 10 | ····˘/˘·˘/ |
| The spark divine dwells in thee: let it grow. | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| That which the upreaching spirit can achieve | 10 | ······/·˘/ |
| The grand and all-creative forces know; | 10 | ····˘/˘/˘· |
| They will assist and strengthen as the light | 10 | ··˘/·/˘··· |
| Lifts up the acorn to the oak tree's height. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Thou hast but to resolve, and lo! God's whole | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| Great universe shall fortify thy soul. | 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.