Poetry: Don't Quit by Edgar Albert Guest

When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,                                                                     When the road you’re trudging seems all uphill,

When the funds are low and 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 a failure turns about,

When he might have won had he stuck it out;

Don’t give up though the pace seems slow-

You may succeed with another blow.

Often the goal is nearer than,

It seems to a faint and faltering man,

Often the struggler has given up,

When he might have captured the victor’s cup,

And he learned too late when the night slipped down,

How close he was to the golden crown.

Success is failure turned inside out-

The silver tint of the clouds of doubt,

And you never can 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.

It's been a while since we have looked at poetry, and when I came across this poem by Edgar Albert Guest I knew I wanted to share it with you all. I know a lot of people are struggling at the moment, with finances, with health issues, with loneliness, with mental illness, with fear of the unknown, with the nervous state of our world and more. It's a lot to take in and our brains are very good at focusing on those negative things that are trying to bring us down. I hope that this poem by Guest will remind us all that it's when things seem worst that we must not quit. 

Edgar A. Guest was Birmingham in 1881 and later moved to Detroit, in the USA with his family. He is famed for his inspiring poems that talk about ordinary life, the things that we see and live with everyday. I think the poem saw a bit of a resurgence a couple of years ago when the pandemic was at its height (you can watch a beautiful reading by Idris Elba for the BBC at this time here) and it's easy to see why! The themes of giving up, of losing hope and of being too tired to go on were common ones during that time. The pandemic has moved into a more manageable stage for many parts of the world, but the sentiments still linger. New challenges are to be faced. New problems to be tackled. It seems like we get past one thing only for another arise and when the days are quiet we are simply waiting for the next bad thing to happen. I wonder if you feel that way or if it is just me?

This poem brought me to tears this week, and I appreciated Guest's words on so many levels. We will struggle, yet we must not give up. Rest if we must, but we mustn't quit. There's still so much good in the world, and in our lives, for us to live for. It's by turning our thoughts to these good things that we find the will to go on. We find community and family who can empathise and share our burden. We find inspiration and hope in classic literature, poetry and art. And we remember that those who came before us suffered yet they never gave up and we take heart.

Thanks for stopping by. I'd love to hear your thoughts on "Don't Quit" by Edgar A. Guest.