It’s been a busy week for me and I’m looking forward to some relaxation this weekend. Hopefully you will too. Here’s to a great one!

I first discovered this poem in college. Don’t Quit is an inspiring poem written by British-born, American writer Edgar A. Guest. The theme of this poem is focused on determination, courage, and perseverance, all attributes that we need to instill in our lives . Don’t give up. Don’t quit.

Guest wrote another poem, “It Couldn’t Be Done”, which I’ll probably feature here in another post.

When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road you’re trudging seems all uphill,
When the funds are low but the debts are high,
And you want to smile but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit…
Rest if you must, but don’t you quit!

Life is queer with its twists and turns,
As every one of us sometimes learns,
And many failures turn about
When we might have won had we stuck it out.
Don’t give up though the pace seems slow…
You may succeed with another blow.

Often the struggler has given up
When he might have captured the victor’s cup;
And he learned too late when the night came down,
How close he was to the golden crown.

Success is failure turned inside out…
And you can never tell how close you are
It may be near when it seems so far.
So stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit
It’s when things seem worst that you must not quit.

Photo by jules a.

I chose this particular poem for it’s overwhelming encouragement to uplift and inspire. The latin definition of this poem means unconquerable or unconquered. The reader of this poem should not give up in life, for life has it’s challenges. I love reading this poem as it reminds me to continue to endure to the end and to be bold and strong in life. Strive to make the best no matter what difficult adversities may come our way.

Out of the night that covers me,
      Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
      For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
      I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
      My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
      Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
      Finds and shall find me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
      How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate,
      I am the captain of my soul.

PoetryFoundation.org

Photo by Jen Theodore