Perseverance Poems

See It Through

by EDGAR GUEST (1881-1959)

When you’re up against a trouble,
Meet it squarely, face to face;
Lift your chin and set your shoulders,
Plant your feet and take a brace.
When it’s vain to try to dodge it,
Do the best that you can do;
You may fail, but you may conquer,
See it through!

Black may be the clouds about you
And your future may seem grim,
But don’t let your nerve desert you;
Keep yourself in fighting trim.
If the worst is bound to happen,
Spite of all that you can do,
Running from it will not save you,
See it through!

Even hope may seem but futile,
When with troubles you’re beset,
But remember you are facing
Just what other men have met.
You may fail, but fall still fighting;
Don’t give up, whate’er you do;
Eyes front, head high to the finish.
See it through!

Edgar A. Guest was born in Birmingham, England in 1881 and came to this country when he was only 10 years old. He wrote an immense amount of poetry throughout his lifetime, much of it devoted to American family values. Guest was the first and only Michigan Poet Laureate, a title he held from 1952 until his death in 1959.

Edgar Guest Contemporaries
Robert Frost
Emile Nelligan

Keep A-Goin’

by FRANK LEBBY STANTON (1857-1927)

Ef you strike a thorn or rose,
Keep a-goin’!
Ef it hails or if it snows,
Keep a-goin’!
‘Taint no use to sit an’ whine
When the fish ain’t on your line;
Bait your hook an’ keep a-tryin‘
Keep a-goin’!

When the weather kills your crop,
Keep a-goin’!
Though ’tis work to reach the top,
Keep a-goin’!
S’pose you’re out o’ ev’ry dime,
Gittin’ broke ain’t any crime;
Tell the world you’re feelin’ prime—
Keep a-goin’!

When it looks like all is up,
Keep a-goin’!
Drain the sweetness from the cup,
Keep a-goin’!
See the wild birds on the wing,
Hear the bells that sweetly ring,
When you feel like sighin’, sing—
Keep a-goin’!

Frank Lebby Stanton was born in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1857. He received a common school education and was apprenticed at the early age of twelve as a printer. From 1889 until his death in 1927 he was editorial writer for the Atlanta Constitution. Frank L. Stanton was named Poet Laureate of Georgia in 1925. Many of his poems have been set to music, most notably Mighty Lak A Rose.

Frank Lebby Stanton Contemporaries
Eugene Field
Robert Louis Stevenson