khamush.com Lifestyle | Motivation | Poems
Failure is an inevitable part of the journey toward success.
It can be disheartening, demoralizing, and downright painful. However, failure is also an opportunity to learn, grow, and become stronger.
Poets have been inspired by the theme of failure throughout the ages, and their words can offer comfort, inspiration, and guidance when we face setbacks and disappointments.
Let’s explore a range of poems about failure that will remind us of the power of perseverance, the value of self-reflection, and the importance of embracing our imperfections.
Here are some failure poems!
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Famous Poems about Failure
Discover how the greatest literary minds have tackled the theme of failure in their iconic works and learn from their wisdom and insights in these famous failure poems.
1. Failure?
by Amos Russel Wells
A pine that grew where all the winds assail
Grew gnarled and crooked; but because it grew
To all its fate erect, I think it stands
Chief in the pleasure garden of its God.
A ruby formed its facets in the dark
Where other growing splendors pressed across
And marred its perfectness; but perfectly
it grew to its conditions and I think
The King of Heaven wears it in His crown.
A man, amid the turmoil of the world,
The harryings of selfishness and greed,
Faintings within and fears and sneers without,
Lamely and poorly did a deed for God;
But God, because he measured to the best
Of narrow lot and poverty of mind,
I think that God has caught the failure up
Within the glowing circle of His grace.
And there transformed it into high success.
Oh, praise to God, who looks beyond the deed,
Who measures man by what a man would be,
Who sees a harvest in a blighted stalk,
Who crowns defeat with His victorious palms,
And rears upon our marshes of despair
The thrones and mansions of eternity!
2. Old and New
by Anonymous
We are passing another mile-stone,
Another school-year’s done;
One more chapter of life is written
A few more threads are spun.
Life’s a journey, a school, a story,
Our best it doth demand;
’Tis a fabric; it should be woven
With steadfast heart and hand.
But we’ve faltered, half learned our lessons,
The story who will read?
And we’ve carelessly marred life’s texture,
A record poor indeed.
Yet our errors, our failures shall be
At length our best success;
If we store up their choicest teachings’
For future helpfulness.
We have trodden the old year’s pathway,
We enter on the new;
God hath brightened them both with mercies,
To Him all praise is due.
Let us study the matchless story,
The life-work of His son,
Till the volume of life is finished,
Until the web is spun.
3. There’s No Such Thing As Failure
by David V. Bush
There’s no such thing as failure
To him who fights when down;
For just as light comes after night,
Success will failure crown.
There’s no such thing as failure
To those who mean to stand.
Each failure hard he’s turned the card
Success, and won the hand.
They only think it’s failure,
And that’s why they’ve not won;
If they’d think right, keep at the fight,
Success would surely come.
There’s no such thing as failure;
Repeat this every day
“I’m bound to win, thru thick or thin,
Success is mine, I say.”
There’s no such thing as failure
Unless you want it so;
With steady nerve, you never swerve,
Success is sure, tho slow.
There’s no such thing as failure!
Repeat, “I’m bound to win,”
Do not complain; affirm again,
“Success, doth now begin.”
There’s no such thing as failure!
Push on and make it flee.
God helps the man who says, “I can.
Success is meant for me.”
4. The Fighting Failure
by Everard Jack Appletonby
He has come the way of the fighting men, and fought by the rules of the
Game,
And out of Life he has gathered–What? A living,–and little fame,
Ever and ever the Goal looms near,–seeming each time worthwhile;
But ever it proves a mirage fair–ever the grim gods smile.
And so, with lips hard set and white, he buries the hope that is gone,–
His fight is lost–and he knows it is lost–and yet he is fighting on.
Out of the smoke of the battle-line watching men win their way,
And, cheering with those who cheer success, he enters again the fray,
Licking the blood and the dust from his lips, wiping the sweat from his
eyes,
He does the work he is set to do–and “therein honor lies.”
Brave they were, these men he cheered,–theirs is the winners’ thrill;
_His_ fight is lost–and he knows it is lost–and yet he is fighting still.
And those who won have rest and peace; and those who died have more;
But, weary and spent, he can not stop seeking the ultimate score;
Courage was theirs for a little time,–but what of the man who sees
That he must lose, yet will not beg mercy upon his knees?
Side by side with grim Defeat, he struggles at dusk or dawn,–
His fight is lost–and he knows it is lost–and yet he is fighting on.
Praise for the warriors who succeed, and tears for the vanquished dead;
The world will hold them close to her heart, wreathing each honored head,
But there in the ranks, soul-sick, time-tried, he battles against the odds,
Sans hope, but true to his colors torn, the plaything of the gods!
Uncover when he goes by, at last! Held to his task by will
The fight is lost–and he knows it is lost–and yet he is fighting still!
5. Poor Man’s Life….
by Rattlehead
How can I make it through tomorrow?
If today is killing me
I’m paying to live poor
I’m paying to live in debt
Living in a home with nothing in it
I’m starving because Wall Street got greedy
A Ponzi scheme took away my future
My wife left me, abandoned by all
I have nothing to live for
I can’t believe this is happening
On the job I’m barely hanging on
Pink slips maybe coming my way
Now I won’t even be able to care for myself
I’m going insane, the IRS is pushing me to the edge
Their taking away my life, for closure of my deams
My stomachs running on empty
I look and I’m not the only one
The breadline is growing, poverty is rampent
Lady liberty is saying no vacancy for the poor or hungry
Unemployment offices are swarmed for one job
The united states in a state of economic failure
The masses starve for change
Their children starve for food
While “Suites” sit at their tables fat and fed
Something is wrong with this picture
Something needs to change!
6. Failure Is Pillar of Success
by Brundaban Panda
Intention follows action,
Action follows reaction.
Life soul aims success,
With continuous efforts.
Failure versus success,
This is natural process.
Failure pillar of success,
Truly a wise noble voice.
Failure highlights flaws,
New attempts life does.
Failure off success on,
Natural gift opposition.
Credit to face a force,
Of opposite currents.
Nothing is impossible,
Pillar protects us full.
7. Failure of Myself
by Shaq Jordan Otto
I ask myself over and over again
Am I good enough?
There are times where I don’t think
that I’m good enough to be with you
Lately all I’ve done is making things harder and more tough
Sometimes I look at myself as a failure in life
How can you be a good person when all you do
is cause pain, hurt, and misery to those who you encounter?
Throughout life we fail to realize what our decisions
Impact others more than impacts you
To have the ability to step outide yourself and take a look at yourself
Tends to not be a good trait
It allows you to see yourself for who you really are
And seeing who you can make you start to see thr bad and the ugly
Changing into someone you don’t reorganized anymore from who you were
When I step outside myself I don’t enjoy the view I’m seeing
I see a monster inside a young man ready to die
Apart of the side that lies withing is someone who I that isn’t who I truly am
How can a person love themselves when all they see nothing
but the pain that person created and caused?
Can a good person become a bad person by the choices and consequences that they encounter in their life?
Questions wihtout answers is where I’m stuck in life
Failure is a state of mind, if a mind is stuck in a state they can’t find
8. Epitome of Failure
by Itsmaddylol
It’s too late to pretend
To be offended by their words
If you’ve done what they say
You’re just as bad as they are
Rumors are one thing
But destructive behavior’s another
I don’t think you get it
And you probably never will
You’re the biggest fake I know
Who can’t even tell herself the truth
You’re reputation proceeds you
But won’t help you get what you want
You’re the epitome of failure
Have a nice life while it lasts
my father’s failure
“Here’s the day you hoped would never come
Don’t feed me violence, just run with me
Through rows of speeding cars
The paper cuts, the cheating lovers
The coffee’s never strong enough
I know you think it’s more than just bad luck”
9. Storm of Fears
by Daniela
The winds are wild
The lightning strikes
The thunder booms
The storm is coming
The storm represents your fears
And all that you have run away from
They’ve come back for their revenge
Will you face it or run away?
Run away, like you did before
Let your friends fall, like you did before
Or face it, like you should
Help them, like you should
Chin held high and heart strong
Your blood races
The lighting strikes, the thunder booms
You will not run away
You will fight
Inspirational Poems about Failure
Be inspired by the words of poets who have turned their own failures into sources of strength and resilience, and find comfort and guidance for your own journey in these inspirational failure poems.
1. The Boy Who Didn’t Pass
by Anonymous
A sad-faced little fellow sits alone in deep disgrace,
There’s a lump arising in his throat, tears streaming down his face;
He wandered from his playmates, for he doesn’t want to hear
Their shouts of merry laughter, since the world has lost its cheer;
He has sipped the cup of sorrow, he has drained the bitter glass,
And his heart is fairly breaking; he’s the boy who didn’t pass.
In the apple tree the robin sings a cheery little song,
But he doesn’t seem to hear it, showing plainly something’s wrong;
Comes his faithful little spaniel for a romp and bit of play,
But the troubled little fellow sternly bids him go away.
All alone he sits in sorrow, with his hair a tangled mass,
And his eyes are red with weeping; he’s the boy who didn’t pass.
How he hates himself for failing, he can hear his playmates jeer,
For they’ve left him with the dullards—gone ahead a half a year,
And he tried so hard to conquer, oh, he tried to do his best,
But now he knows, he’s weaker, yes, and duller than the rest.
He’s ashamed to tell his mother, for he thinks she’ll hate him, too—
The little boy who didn’t pass, who failed of getting through.
Oh, you who boast a laughing son, and speak of him as bright,
And you who love a little girl who comes to you at night
With smiling eyes, with dancing feet, with honors from her school,
Turn to that lonely little boy who thinks he is a fool,
And take him kindly by the hand, the dullest in his class,
He is the one who most needs love, the boy who didn’t pass.
2. His Other Chance
He was down and out, and his pluck was gone,
And he said to me in a gloomy way:
“I’ve wasted my chances, one by one,
And I’m just no good, as the people say.
Nothing ahead, and my dreams all dust,
Though once there was something I might have been,
But I wasn’t game, and I broke my trust,
And I wasn’t straight and I wasn’t clean.”
“You’re pretty low down,” says I to him,
“But nobody’s holding you there, my friend.
Life is a stream where men sink or swim,
And the drifters come to a sorry end;
But there’s two of you living and breathing still—
The fellow you are, and he’s tough to see,
And another chap, if you’ve got the will,
The man that you still have a chance to be.”
He laughed with scorn. “Is there two of me?
I thought I’d murdered the other one.
I once knew a chap that I hoped to be,
And he was decent, but now he’s gone.”
“Well,” says I, “it may seem to you
That life has little of joy in store,
But there’s always something you still can do,
And there’s never a man but can try once more.
3. Failure Can Be Tough
by Catherine Pulsifer
Failure can be tough,
The losses more than enough.
But stand up right away,
Smile and don’t feel betray.
Though it may seem unfair,
Don’t give up, don’t despair.
The outcome ain’t set in stone,
So stay strong and apply what is now known.
Let failure guide your progress,
New ways to assess.
Look at what has failed and ask
How do I move forward with this task?
So, never let failure take away
From your end goal don’t stray.
Shed no tears but find the energy
Don’t let failure be a penalty.
4. Life’s Failures
by Julie Hebert
In life we will have failures, always wishing we had waivers,
To take back what we’ve just done.
So take some time, to sit and unwind,
So you can see what you’ve learned from.
It may be something small, maybe even smaller than a doll,
Something that not everyone else would see,
But the important part is, that you take the quiz,
To learn something that’s within thee.
So why don’t we just let, failures be the threat,
Because failure is more than just that.
If we can allow ourselves to see, that failure is a key,
Our next attempt may have a better chance at.
So start to change your mind, that a failure can be kind,
If we allow ourselves to learn from it.
No more shall a failure bring, unhappiness to him
As it’s now one less failure to submit.
5. Dream Again
by Patience Strong
When your dreams have failed you –
Dream again…
When you think you’re beaten –
Dream again…
Failure cannot break your heart –
Life’s a game, so play your part –
Dare to make another start.
Dream again…
Next time you’ll be stronger – wiser too –
Think of all the things you meant to do –
Keep the glory of the goal in view –
and dream again…
Do not heed the world, its taunts and jeers –
Lift your eyes and face the coming years –
All great things are bought with human tears –
So dream again.
6. Failures You Have None?
by Catherine Pulsifer
If failures you have none
If mistakes you have not one
Then living you are not
You’re living in the same spot.
You see to get ahead
You must live, not play dead
Some risks you may have to take
You have to live life awake.
Failures you will see
Some may not be pretty
But learn from them and then go on
Success is not stumbled upon.
We all make mistakes
But let that give your head a shake
Start again with new knowledge
It will put you above the average.
So let your failures teach you
The one thing that was the issue
With determination and persistence too
You will find success in what you do!
7. Failure
by Edgar A. Guest
Failure is ceasing to try!
‘Tis accepting defeat
And to all you may meet
Giving voice to a sigh;
‘Tis in thinking it vain
To attempt furthermore
And in bowing to pain
When the muscles grow sore.
Failure is stepping aside
From the brunt of the fray
In a weak-hearted way,
Being content to abide
In the shadows that fall,
And in being afraid
Out of life, after all,
Nothing’s left to be made.
Failure is thinking despair,
The forsaking of hope,
And refusal to cope
With the day’s round of care.
It’s in heeding the cry,
All is lost! and to stay
With defeat and not try
For the happier day
8. Learn
by Anonymous
After a while you learn the subtle difference
Between holding a hand
And chaining a soul.
And you learn that love doesn’t mean leaning
And company doesn’t mean security.
And you begin to learn
That kisses aren’t compromises
And presents aren’t promises.
And you begin to accept your defeats
With your head up and your eyes ahead
With the grace of a woman or a man
Not the grief of a child.
And you learn to build all your loads on today
Because tomorrow’s ground is too uncertain for plans
And futures have a way of falling down in midflight.
After a while you learn that even sunshine burns if
You ask too much.
So you plant your own garden
And decorate your own soul
Instead of waiting for someone to buy you flowers.
And you learn that you really can endure
That you really are strong.
And you really do have worth.
And you learn.
With every failure you
9. For Those Who Fail
by Joaquin Miller
“All honor to him who shall win the prize”
The world has cried for a thousand years.
But to him who tries and who fails and dies,
I give great honor and glory and tears.
Give glory and honor and pitiful tears
To all who fail in their deeds sublime.
Their ghosts are many in the van of years.
They were born with Time in advance of Time.
Oh, great is the hero who wins a name.
But greater many and many a time
Some pale-faced fellow who dies in shame
And lets God finish the thought sublime.
And great is the man with a sword undrawn.
And good is the man who refrains from wine;
But the man who falls and who still fights on,
Lo, he is the twin-brother of mine.
Funny Poems about Failure
Laugh in the face of failure with witty and irreverent poems that poke fun at our foibles and remind us not to take ourselves too seriously. Let’s check out these interesting poems about failure.
1. Organ Failure
Arilynn.by Arilynn.
She died when you walked away.
Her heart stopped beating
And her lungs stop inflating,
Her eyes closed as tears
Streamed down her pail skinned face.
The autopsy showed bruises on her soul and
her stomach empty from adoration starvation.
Yes.
It was your fault,
No,
it was not natural causes.
Why?
Because you gave her the kiss of death
when your lips whispered
just friends.
2. O Fear
by Anisha Joseph
You made me run away
from those who loved me anyway.
You pushed me down into the vanity,
blindfolded me from every reality.
I thought I wasn’t good enough.
You made my existence so tough.
O fear, now I realize, it was all a bluff,
and you have already played enough.
I lost many opportunities,
and now that I am sure of my priorities,
I believe I will break through
as life always gives a next chance to you.
Remember to rise up, and it’s okay to fall.
This world around you can’t define you at all.
Be courageous, have an ambition.
Be ready to go beyond every limitation.
Building a wall of fear
will keep you in the dark forever,
keeping you unaware of
what you are capable of.
4. Fear Itself Is Undefined
by Bianca Flores
I lie on my bed, soaking my pillow with my tears.
I try to remember exactly what it is that I fear.
Is it the passing of time or the love that I lack?
Is it the mistakes that I’ve made or the fact that I can’t bring the past back?
What is it that I’m afraid of?
Why am I so scared?
Is it the people I’ve hurt or the people who’ve hurt me?
Am I afraid of everything that I can’t seem to see?
Is it the love of a friend or the loss of my family?
Is it the possibility that my life can end in a tragedy?
What is it that I fear most?
What do my eyes say I’m scared of?
Is it the sun that sets but won’t seem to rise?
Is it the hope that I have that always seems to die?
Is it the trust of a person that I cannot begin to grasp?
Is it all the memories of my horrid past?
Is it me?
Can it possibly be that the thing I fear most is the thing I can’t be?
The things that I try to understand?
The me that I try to be with when I’m feeling sad?
The person I’m expected to be? Is that what I fear?
I think the thing I fear most…is me.
5. Loneliness
by Lily Rae
You come in waves
And suffocate me sweetly.
When I think I’m okay,
You sneak in discreetly.
Each time we meet
You wear a new face.
Always different,
You know how to greet me.
You fill me up
Just to pour me out
Into a sea full of agony
Disguised as bittersweet beauty.
My hands grow cold,
Eyes grow weary.
So sad I hurt the ones
Who love me dearly.
Nights become days,
And the days grow long,
A never-ending
Melancholy song.
6. It (Fear Poem)
by Kindall Perez
I’m running out of breath.
I can’t believe it’s so hard to breathe.
My heart’s pounding in my chest
As I wonder if IT found me.
I hide under the covers and pretend I’m invisible.
Then I turn around and IT is still there.
I scream and pray IT would just go away,
I’m running and running, but IT is
Right behind me.
I’ve been running from this thing for 5 years now.
I stop running and decide to face my fears
Once and for all.
As I stand face to face to what has caused me
So much misery and pain,
I stop.
I look deeper and deeper into ITs eyes.
Then I realize that IT is me.
7. Fear of Home
by Ray
you run in fear
you walk in fear
you hide in fear
you show in fear
life’s a nightmare
one that never ends
one you can’t escape
one where your worst fears are your reality
as day after day
you’re reminded of your mistakes
with the scars you try to hide
the bruises you lie for
your tear scarred face
puts on a fake smile
a fake laugh
a fake story
that all disappears
when you walk in those doors
and nothing you do is right
and he reminds you
your pillow soaked
your cheeks scarred
and you’re drowning
with the tears you always cry
8. Nothing to Fear
by Catherine Lamberton
You poor little girl,
You never grew up.
Trapped in this vessel,
Your feelings erupt.
Lost in the shuffle,
Daddy’s love you desired.
Always the best,
Yet nothing transpired.
Worry and fear,
Only emotions you knew.
Hidden from the world,
No one had a clue.
Your smile was false,
You lived such a lie.
You did what you had to,
Anything to get by.
The fear, the sadness,
The doubt never ceased.
Tucked deep inside,
The anxiety increased.
Haunted by your feelings,
Reckless you became.
Adding to the chaos,
Guilt, hurt, and shame.
You poor little girl,
I know you are here.
I’ll take care of you now.
There’s nothing more to fear.
9. Twinkle, Twinkle Little Fear
by Hanna Eardley
Fear is the strangest thing,
as it comes from within our heads.
But that don’t stop it tucking us in
when we’re safe within our beds.
What is it that you fear the most?
Is it the dark or lightning strikes?
What is it that you fear the most?
Is it the water, the greatest of heights?
For me, my biggest fear would be
losing that thing that we call “light.”
Not in the sense of being in dark,
but the kind that helps you fight.
That light you find within your eye,
the one that makes it twinkle…
That would be my biggest fear,
not to have that ’round to sprinkle.
I have used it on many a time
to pull myself back from the brink.
It scares me that one day I’ll need it
but it won’t be there, you think?
When I think of when I’ve used it,
I don’t see where the victim has been.
I see the end, when I climbed back out.
I see the strength that I found within.
But the twinkle is where it came from.
One day, lookin’ in the mirror to see,
passed the spots and the wrinkles,
to that twinkle staring back at me.
It is the twinkle that has lit my soul.
It’s the twinkle that showed my way.
Every time I had laid down to die,
that twinkle gave me another day.
So, without it would I notice
the person who hides in crowds?
Without that light to guide me,
would I end up amongst the clouds?
I fear that one day my twinkle
will cease to appear to me.
I fear that one day my twinkle
will not be there to help me see.
I fear I will have used it up
and that you only get so much.
And one day, when I need it again,
it won’t be there to use as such.
So, that would be my biggest fear,
to wake up one day to find
that I’ve used up all my twinkle,
and I’d stay trapped within my mind.
Short Poems about Failure
Get a quick dose of inspiration with concise and powerful verses that capture the essence of failure and its lessons in these short poetries about failure.
1. Philosophy
by Emily Dickinson
It might be easier
To fail with land in sight,
Than gain my blue peninsula
To perish of delight.
2. The Past
by Emily Dickinson
The past is such a curious creature,
To look her in the face
A transport may reward us,
Or a disgrace.
Unarmed if any meet her,
I charge him, fly!
Her rusty ammunition
Might yet reply!
3. To Hang Our Head Ostensibly
by Emily Dickinson
To hang our head ostensibly,
And subsequent to find
That such was not the posture
Of our immortal mind,
Affords the sly presumption
That, in so dense a fuzz,
You, too, take cobweb attitudes
Upon a plane of gauze!
4. I Will Be Worthy of It
by Ella Wheeler Wilcox
I may not reach the heights I seek,
My untried strength may fail me;
Or, half-way up the mountain peak,
Fierce tempests may assail me.
But though that place I never gain,
Herein lies comfort for my pain—
I will be worthy of it.
I may not triumph in success,
Despite my earnest labor;
I may not grasp results that bless
The efforts of my neighbor;
But though my goal I never see
This thought shall always dwell with me—
I will be worthy of it.
The golden glory of Love’s light
May never fall on my way;
My path may always lead through night,
Like some deserted by-way;
But though life’s dearest joy I miss
There lies a nameless strength in this—
I will be worthy of it.
5. At Appomattox
by Carl Holliday
What shall we say? Was it at last defeat
That leader of the weary army gained?
When those two knights of North and South did meet
Upon that final field with blood so stained,
Was one the vanquished, one the victor there?
O patriots, no; on that sad day of peace
There was no sign of conquest anywhere,
But only two great hearts content to cease
The strife and live at peace, the battle done.
And who was greater of the twain that day?
Ah, ask not that. One lost, the other won;
Each followed his ideal all the way.
It matters little if we win not goals,
But much how goals are kept before our souls.
6. Failure’s Crushing Blow
by Catherine Pulsifer
In failure’s crushing blow we find our strength to grow,
Experience in its wake from which to learn.
None can guarantee destiny plays no prank,
Never let go of failure lessons earned.
No man ever succeeds on his first attempt;
Roll with the haymakers and do not despair.
Even if you stumble on the way you went,
Look back and see – truly failure’s best thing there!
7. Take Courage
by Catherine Pulsifer
Look not upon your failures and their hurdles high,
Take courage for this time, for the time shall pass by,
Do not be discouraged if you’re stuck in a bind,
Observe what is before you, and gather your mind.
Learn from the mistakes that taught us not to fret,
Grow onwards ever onwards with each hard fought step.
Your inner strength and wisdom will now be tested true,
With courage and confidence set off anew.
8. If At First
by Catherine Pulsifer
If at first, you don’t succeed,
Take a deep breath, wipe away your tears,
Don’t let failure shake you off your feet.
Achieving goals, at times, is no easy feat.
Fear not the outcome, stand proud and tall,
Lift yourself up for another try and above all,
No matter how hard it might be,
Never give up because success you may see!
9. Suggestion
by Clifford Greve
To believe the song of the failures
In a land where good men have won
Is casting your lot with the losers;
And doing what they have done.
To listen and learn from the winners,
Is winning yourself — their stake!
You need not fear the advice you hear
But beware whose advice you take
10. Failure
by Bun Anna Bun
Black eyes
filled with tears
that swarm
the dirt
at the feet
of a boy
who crys
with a journey
that walks
down the way
of the failure
to fail at his ways
and cry some more
but through
the sun
came a voice
to wipe away
the cold tears
and holding his hand
a cure of such
to fix his failure
Long Poems about Failure
Immerse yourself in the rich and immersive world of epic poems that explore the theme of failure in depth and detail in these long poetries about failure.
1. Casey at the Bat
by Ernest Lawrence Thayer
The outlook wasn’t brilliant for the Mudville nine that day;
The score stood four to two with but one inning more to play.
And then when Cooney died at first, and Barrows did the same,
A sickly silence fell upon the patrons of the game.
A straggling few got up to go in deep despair. The rest
Clung to that hope which springs eternal in the human breast;
They thought if only Casey could but get a whack at that―
We’d put up even money now with Casey at the bat.
But Flynn preceded Casey, as did also Jimmy Blake,
And the former was a lulu and the latter was a cake;
So upon that stricken multitude grim melancholy sat,
For there seemed but little chance of Casey’s getting to the bat.
But Flynn let drive a single, to the wonderment of all,
And Blake, the much despised, tore the cover off the ball;
And when the dust had lifted, and men saw what had occurred,
There was Jimmy safe at second and Flynn a-hugging third.
Then from 5,000 throats and more there rose a lusty yell;
It rumbled through the valley, it rattled in the dell;
It knocked upon the mountain and recoiled upon the flat,
For Casey, mighty Casey, was advancing to the bat.
There was ease in Casey’s manner as he stepped into his place;
There was pride in Casey’s bearing and a smile on Casey’s face.
And when, responding to the cheers, he lightly doffed his hat,
No stranger in the crowd could doubt ’twas Casey at the bat.
Ten thousand eyes were on him as he rubbed his hands with dirt;
Five thousand tongues applauded when he wiped them on his shirt.
Then while the writhing pitcher ground the ball into his hip,
Defiance gleamed in Casey’s eye, a sneer curled Casey’s lip.
And now the leather-covered sphere came hurtling through the air,
And Casey stood a-watching it in haughty grandeur there.
Close by the sturdy batsman the ball unheeded sped―
“That ain’t my style,” said Casey. “Strike one,” the umpire said.
From the benches, black with people, there went up a muffled roar,
Like the beating of the storm-waves on a stern and distant shore.
“Kill him! Kill the umpire!” shouted some one on the stand;
And it’s likely they’d have killed him had not Casey raised his hand.
With a smile of Christian charity great Casey’s visage shone;
He stilled the rising tumult; he bade the game go on;
He signaled to the pitcher, and once more the spheroid flew;
But Casey still ignored it, and the umpire said, “Strike two.”
“Fraud!” cried the maddened thousands, and echo answered fraud;
But one scornful look from Casey and the audience was awed.
They saw his face grow stern and cold, they saw his muscles strain,
And they knew that Casey wouldn’t let that ball go by again.
The sneer is gone from Casey’s lip, his teeth are clinched in hate;
He pounds with cruel violence his bat upon the plate.
And now the pitcher holds the ball, and now he lets it go,
And now the air is shattered by the force of Casey’s blow.
Oh, somewhere in this favored land the sun is shining bright;
The band is playing somewhere, and somewhere hearts are light,
And somewhere men are laughing, and somewhere children shout;
But there is no joy in Mudville―mighty Casey has struck out
2. The Singing Lesson
by Jean Ingelow
A nightingale made a mistake;
She sang a few notes out of tune:
Her heart was ready to break,
And she hid away from the moon.
She wrung her claws, poor thing,
But was far too proud to weep;
She tucked her head under her wing,
And pretended to be asleep.
A lark, arm in arm with a thrush,
Came sauntering up to the place;
The nightingale felt herself blush,
Though feathers hid her face;
She knew they had heard her song,
She felt them snicker and sneer;
She thought that life was too long,
And wished she could skip a year.
“O nightingale!” cooed a dove;
“O nightingale! what’s the use?
You bird of beauty and love,
Why behave like a goose?
Don’t sulk away from our sight,
Like a common, contemptible fowl;
You bird of joy and delight,
Why behave like an owl?
“Only think of all you have done;
Only think of all you can do;
A false note is really fun
From such a bird as you!
Lift up your proud little crest,
Open your musical beak;
Other birds have to do their best,
You need only to speak!”
The nightingale shyly took
Her head from under her wing,
And, giving the dove a look,
Straightway began to sing.
There was never a bird could pass;
The night was divinely calm;
And the people stood on the grass
To hear that wonderful psalm.
The nightingale did not care,
She only sang to the skies;
Her song ascended there,
And there she fixed her eyes.
The people that stood below
She knew but little about;
And this tale has a moral, I know,
If you’ll try and find it out.
3. Adventurer’s Luck
by James W. Whilt
Did you ever go a-trapping
Where you knew the fur was plenty,
Where a year ago you could have
Made a bunch of “jack”?
Next fall you got in early,
Built your cabin in a hurry,—
Then didn’t even find a weasel track?
Did you ever go prospecting
Where the gold was found in millions,
And even every musher
Had made a pile of wealth?
And you worked just like a beaver
Cause you felt you couldn’t leave ‘er,
And all you got was badly broken health?
Did you ever go a-fishing
When the weather,—it was perfect!
And you gathered up your tackle
And had it fixed just right:
And you whipped the streams and bait-fished
And maybe swore a little,
And then you never even got a bite?
Did you ever go a-hunting
When the woods were damp and gloomy,
Where everything was stillness
And everywhere a trail,
And you traveled over ridges,
Through the hollows, round the ledges
And then you never even glimpsed a tail?
But such is luck I find it,
And the fellow who stays by it
Will at last succeed and win the day:
Be he trapper, or prospector,
Be he fisherman, or hunter,
I have always found it
That it’s pluck that wins the day.
4. Apparent Failure
by Robert Browning
No, for I’ll save it! Seven years since
I passed through Paris, stopped a day
To see the baptism of your Prince,
Saw, made my bow, and went my way:
Walking the heat and headache off,
I took the Seine-side, you surmise,
Thought of the Congress, Gortschak off,
Cavour’s appeal and Buol’s replies,
So sauntered till–what met my eyes?
Only the Doric little Morgue!
The dead-house where you show your drowned:
Petrarch’s Vaucluse makes proud the Sorgue,
Your Morgue has made the Seine renowned.
One pays one’s debt in such a case;
I plucked up heart and entered,–stalked,
Keeping a tolerable face
Compared with some whose cheeks were chalked:
Let them! No Briton’s to be balked!
First came the silent gazers; next,
A screen of glass, we’re thankful for;
Last, the sight’s self, the sermon’s text,
The three men who did most abhor
Their life in Paris yesterday,
So killed themselves: and now, enthroned
Each on his copper couch, they lay
Fronting me, waiting to be owned.
I thought, and think, their sin’s atoned.
Poor men, God made, and all for that!
The reverence struck me; o’er each head
Religiously was hung its hat,
Each coat dripped by the owner’s bed,
Sacred from touch: each had his berth,
His bounds, his proper place of rest,
Who last night tenanted on earth
Some arch, where twelve such slept abreast,–
Unless the plain asphalt seemed best.
How did it happen, my poor boy?
You wanted to be Buonaparte
And have the Tuileries for toy,
And could not, so it broke your heart?
You, old one by his side, I judge,
Were, red as blood, a socialist,
A leveller! Does the Empire grudge
You’ve gained what no Republic missed?
Be quiet, and unclench your fist!
And this–why, he was red in vain,
Or black,–poor fellow that is blue !
What fancy was it, turned your brain?
Oh, women were the prize for you!
Money gets women, cards and dice
Get money, and ill-luck gets just
The copper couch and one clear nice
Cool squirt of water o’er your bust,
The right thing to extinguish lust!
It’s wiser being good than bad;
It’s safer being meek than fierce:
It’s fitter being sane than mad.
My own hope is, a sun will pierce
The thickest cloud earth ever stretched;
That, after Last, returns the First,
Tho’ a wide compass round be fetched;
That what began best, can’t end worst,
Nor what God blessed once, prove accurst
5. September 1, 1939
by W. H. Auden
I sit in one of the dives
On Fifty-second Street
Uncertain and afraid
As the clever hopes expire
Of a low dishonest decade:
Waves of anger and fear
Circulate over the bright
And darkened lands of the earth,
Obsessing our private lives;
The unmentionable odour of death
Offends the September night.
Accurate scholarship can
Unearth the whole offence
From Luther until now
That has driven a culture mad,
Find what occurred at Linz,
What huge imago made
A psychopathic god:
I and the public know
What all schoolchildren learn,
Those to whom evil is done
Do evil in return.
Exiled Thucydides knew
All that a speech can say
About Democracy,
And what dictators do,
The elderly rubbish they talk
To an apathetic grave;
Analysed all in his book,
The enlightenment driven away,
The habit-forming pain,
Mismanagement and grief:
We must suffer them all again.
Into this neutral air
Where blind skyscrapers use
Their full height to proclaim
The strength of Collective Man,
Each language pours its vain
Competitive excuse:
But who can live for long
In an euphoric dream;
Out of the mirror they stare,
Imperialism’s face
And the international wrong.
Faces along the bar
Cling to their average day:
The lights must never go out,
The music must always play,
All the conventions conspire
To make this fort assume
The furniture of home;
Lest we should see where we are,
Lost in a haunted wood,
Children afraid of the night
Who have never been happy or good.
The windiest militant trash
Important Persons shout
Is not so crude as our wish:
What mad Nijinsky wrote
About Diaghilev
Is true of the normal heart;
For the error bred in the bone
Of each woman and each man
Craves what it cannot have,
Not universal love
But to be loved alone.
From the conservative dark
Into the ethical life
The dense commuters come,
Repeating their morning vow;
“I will be true to the wife,
I’ll concentrate more on my work,”
And helpless governors wake
To resume their compulsory game:
Who can release them now,
Who can reach the deaf,
Who can speak for the dumb?
All I have is a voice
To undo the folded lie,
The romantic lie in the brain
Of the sensual man-in-the-street
And the lie of Authority
Whose buildings grope the sky:
There is no such thing as the State
And no one exists alone;
Hunger allows no choice
To the citizen or the police;
We must love one another or die.
Defenceless under the night
Our world in stupor lies;
Yet, dotted everywhere,
Ironic points of light
Flash out wherever the Just
Exchange their messages:
May I, composed like them
Of Eros and of dust,
Beleaguered by the same
Negation and despair,
Show an affirming flame.
6. Life Doesn’t Frighten Me
by Maya Angelou
Shadows on the wall
Noises down the hall
Life doesn’t frighten me at all
Bad dogs barking loud
Big ghosts in a cloud
Life doesn’t frighten me at all
Mean old Mother Goose
Lions on the loose
They don’t frighten me at all
Dragons breathing flame
On my counterpane
That doesn’t frighten me at all.
I go boo
Make them shoo
I make fun
Way they run
I won’t cry
So they fly
I just smile
They go wild
Life doesn’t frighten me at all.
Tough guys fight
All alone at night
Life doesn’t frighten me at all.
Panthers in the park
Strangers in the dark
No, they don’t frighten me at all.
That new classroom where
Boys all pull my hair
(Kissy little girls
With their hair in curls)
They don’t frighten me at all.
Don’t show me frogs and snakes
And listen for my scream,
If I’m afraid at all
It’s only in my dreams.
I’ve got a magic charm
That I keep up my sleeve
I can walk the ocean floor
And never have to breathe.
Life doesn’t frighten me at all
Not at all
Not at all.
7. Will I Lose Myself?
by Patricia A Fleming
Will I slowly wither like a leaf
That falls upon the earth?
Once void of all its Autumn hues,
It loses all its worth.
Will my strength and vigor for this life
Just one day start to wane?
Will all these lines and wrinkles guise
My once familiar face?
Will I feel no longer needed
By my family and my friends?
Will that thrill of feeling deep in love,
In time come to an end?
Will I lose my sense of purpose,
My reason for each day?
Will my mind grow dull and cluttered
Till I somehow lose my way?
Will I outlive all my loved ones
And find myself alone?
Will I lose my independence,
My possessions and my home?
Will all my fondest memories
Escape my aging grasp?
And will I drift so far away
I never make it back?
Will I be that old forgotten soul
That no one comes to see?
Kept in the hands of strangers,
A shell of who I used to be.
I pray I’m spared such cruelty,
For if I am to live.
I don’t want to be a burden
When I still have much to give.
I want to treasure every moment,
Every love my heart embraced.
I need to know each pain I felt,
Each tragedy I faced.
So if someday I disappear
Before I leave this life,
I beg you to reach out to me
And hold on with all your might.
For despite how far away I go,
I need the world to care.
For somewhere in that bewilderment,
I still linger there.
8. Paranoia (Fear Poem)
by John Raines
I know you’re there.
Lurking in the darkness of the night,
Cowering in the shadows, avoiding the light,
Crouched behind the curtain or hid beneath the bed,
Awaiting the chance to dive into my head.
I know you’re there.
With your bloodshot eyes glowing, never showing,
Watching me with a hunger, all the while knowing
I fear you most when the daylight’s gone,
With seemingly endless hours til morning’s dawn.
I know you’re there.
With your black heart pounding in your leathery chest,
Knowing too well I’ll get no rest
As you prowl my room like a ghostly haunt,
I know it’s my soul that you need and want.
I know you’re there,
You demon from Hell. I know you can tell
My fears are growing and beginning to swell
Like a ticking time bomb about to explode.
You sit patiently with your evils to unload.
I know you’re there.
You pitiless beast, ready to feed
On my every thought, on my every deed
I can feel you staring, glaring, carrying out your scheme
To enter my mind through an open dream.
I know you’re there.
No noise you make as you devise a plan for my soul to take
back to the land of the living dead before I awake.
I won’t sleep, I won’t close an eye
As soon as I do I know I’ll die.
I know you’re there.
Poems about Failure That Rhyme
Failure can be easy to tackle if it is discussed with a rhythmic twist. These poems about failure with rhyme will make you feel better and motivate you to do better.
1. Failure
by Amos Russel Wells
Failure is a rocky hill:
Climb it! Climb it with a will!
Failure is a broken bone:
Set it! Grin, and do not groan!
Failure is a tangled string:
Puzzle out the knotted thing!
Failure is a river swift:
Swim it! Swim, and do not drift!
Failure is a black morass:
Cross it! There are tufts of grass!
Failure is a treacherous pit:
Scramble! Clamber out of it!
Failure is an inky night:
Sing! Expect the morning light!
Failure is an ugly coal:
Fuse it to a diamond soul!
2. Loss and Gain
by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
When I compare
What I have lost with what I have gained,
What I have missed with what attained,
Little room do I find for pride.
I am aware
How many days have been idly spent;
How like an arrow the good intent
Has fallen short or been turned aside.
But who shall dare
To measure loss and gain in this wise?
Defeat may be victory in disguise;
The lowest ebb is the turn of the tide.
3. Failure
by William Francis Barnard
Who, then, hath failed? That one who tries
To reach life far above his eyes;
Who longs to do the worthiest things,
And ‘gainst all difficulties flings
The power and strength that make a man;
That one who would complete what faith began,
But, climbing on, o’ercoming all,
Bursts his strong heart, and reels, to fall
Before some last vast summit still unscaled?
He hath not failed!
4. Keep a-Goin
by Frank L. Stanton
If you strike a thorn or rose,
Keep a-goin’!
If it hails, or if it snows,
Keep a-goin!
‘Taint no use to sit an’ whine,
When the fish ain’t on yer line;
Bait yer hook an’ keep a-tryin’—
Keep a-goin’!
When the weather kills yer crop,
Keep a-goin’!
When you tumble from the top,
Keep a-goin’!
S’pose you’re out of every dime,
Bein’ so 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’!
5. God Will Count Your Honest Try
by William Henry Dawson
If in life’s great, onward battle
You have done your best and lost,
If amid the din and rattle
You regarded not the cost,
If you met your foeman bravely,
If you dared to do or die,
God will credit you, most surely,
For your fearless, honest try.
Have you sometimes felt discouraged,
Felt that life had lost its charm,
And that every effort failed you,
Bringing to you only harm?
Look within and ask this question:
“Have I done my level best?”
If you answer, without guessing,
“Yes,” then God will do the rest.
Has this neighbor won more glory?
That one more of earthly store?
Though your hair is thin and hoary,
Are you poorer than before?
Have you helped, with hands quite willing?
Have you heard the orphan’s cry?
Given part of your last shilling?
God will count your honest try.
6. Purpose
by Anonymous
Deeply and long the sap must flow
Ere the merest layer of elm can grow.
Many a wave’s recurrent shock
Is needed to smooth the tiniest rock.
Thousands of leaves must fade and fall
To make the mold by the garden wall.
Thus, as the patient seasons roll,
Slowly is fashioned a human soul.
Purpose and failure and purpose still,
Steadily moved by a quiet will,—
Layer on layer in sturdy way,
Hardly seen the growth of a day,—
Times of failure and fear and fall,
But one strong tendency through it all,—
God and purpose and sun by sun
Reach the stars before they are done!
7. The Gift of Empty Hands
by S. M. B. Piatt
They were two princes doomed to death;
Each loved his beauty and his breath:
“Leave us our life and we will bring
Fair gifts unto our lord, the king.”
They went together. In the dew
A charmed bird before them flew.
Through sun and thorn one followed it;
Upon the other’s arm it lit.
A rose, whose faintest flush was worth
All buds that ever blew on earth,
One climbed the rocks to reach; ah, well,
Into the other’s breast it fell.
Weird jewels, such as fairies wear,
When moons go out, to light their hair,
One tried to touch on ghostly ground;
Gems of quick fire the other found.
One with the dragon fought to gain
The enchanted fruit, and fought in vain;
The other breathed the garden’s air
And gathered precious apples there.
Backward to the imperial gate
One took his fortune, one his fate:
One showed sweet gifts from sweetest lands,
The other, torn and empty hands.
At bird, and rose, and gem, and fruit,
The king was sad, the king was mute;
At last he slowly said: “My son,
True treasure is not lightly won.
Your brother’s hands, wherein you see
Only these scars, show more to me
Than if a kingdom’s price I found
In place of each forgotten wound.”
8. Begin A Year To-Day!
by Amos Russel Wells
On New Year’s day you started in
With heart of grace absolved from sin,
With forward look, with purpose true,
And all the world was fair to you.
But soon the devil found a crack
And pierced your armor, front or back;
And soon, your conduct past excuse,
You sadly cried, “Oh, what’s the use?”
Brother! the wheelings of the sun
In endless hopeful circles run;
They sweep serenely through the air,
And you may start from anywhere.
For common use we count the year
From one sole point in its career;
But you, adopt a lordly tone,
And fix a year that’s all your own!
Adopt this very day and hour
As genesis of hope and power.
Forget the failures left behind,
And on the future fix your mind.
Break with the follies of the past!
Master your weaknesses at last!
Stiffen your muscles! Watch and pray!
Stoutly begin a year to-day!
9. Who Killed the Plan?
by Amos Russel Wells
Who killed the Plan?
“I,” said the Critic,
“I knew how to hit it,
I killed the Plan.”
Who killed the Plan?
“I,” the Bore said,
“I talked it dead,
I killed the Plan.”
Who killed the Plan?
“I,” said the Sloth,
“I lagged and was loth.
And I killed the Plan.”
Who killed the Plan?
“I,” said Ambition,
“With my selfish vision
I killed the Plan.”
Who killed the Plan?
“I,” said the Crank,
“With my nonsense rank
I killed the Plan.”
10. Overcoming Failure
by E. Simpson
There once was a man who was fraught
With failure and struggles, he thought
But he learned to keep going
And ended up glowing
Now success is the thing he’s caught
Poems about Failure and Success
Explore the interplay between failure and success through poetry that reflects on the relationship between these two seemingly opposite forces.
1. The Real Successes
by Edgar A. Guest
You think that the failures are many,
You think the successes are few,
But you judge by the rule of the penny,
And not by the good that men do.
You judge men by standards of treasure
That merely obtain upon earth,
When the brother you’re snubbing may measure
Full-length to God’s standard of worth.
The failures are not in the ditches,
The failures are not in the ranks,
They have missed the acquirement of riches,
Their fortunes are not in the banks.
Their virtues are never paraded,
Their worth is not always in view,
But they’re fighting their battles unaided,
And fighting them honestly, too.
There are failures to-day in high places
The failures aren’t all in the low;
There are rich men with scorn in their faces
Whose homes are but castles of woe.
The homes that are happy are many,
And numberless fathers are true;
And this is the standard, if any,
By which we must judge what men do.
Wherever loved ones are awaiting
The toiler to kiss and caress,
Though in Bradstreet’s he hasn’t a rating,
He still is a splendid success.
If the dear ones who gather about him
And know what he’s striving to do
Have never a reason to doubt him,
Is he less successful than you?
You think that the failures are many,
You judge by men’s profits in gold;
You judge by the rule of the penny–
In this true success isn’t told.
This falsely man’s story is telling,
For wealth often brings on distress,
But wherever love brightens a dwelling,
There lives; rich or poor, a success.
2. The Failure
by John Kendrick Bangs
Now failures are, as I conceive,
No things to weep o’er or to grieve,
But beacon lights to warn us when
We sail too near the rocks again;
Or, better, spurs to urge us on
To surer enterprise anon.
He is a sage who scales the heights
On failures made by other wights,
Provided in his quest for pelf
He’s not already failed himself;
And he who hasn’t — well, I guess
He’ll never know how sweet success
Can be to him who from a crash
Emerges stronger for his smash.
3. If
by Rudyard Kipling
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:
If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;
If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools:
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!
4. Failure
by A.E. Stallings
You humble in. It’s just as you remember:
The sallow walls, formica counter top,
The circular argument of time beneath
Fluorescent flickering—doubt, faith, and doubt.
She knows you’ve been to see the gilded girl
Who’s always promising and walking out
With someone else. She knew that you’d return,
With nothing in your pockets but your fists.
Why do you resist? When will you learn
That this is what your weary dreams are of—
Succumbing to Her unconditional love?
5. To Failure
by Philip Larkin
You do not come dramatically, with dragons
That rear up with my life between their paws
And dash me butchered down beside the wagons,
The horses panicking; nor as a clause
Clearly set out to warn what can be lost,
What out-of-pocket charges must be borne
Expenses met; nor as a draughty ghost
That’s seen, some mornings, running down a lawn.
It is these sunless afternoons, I find
Install you at my elbow like a bore
The chestnut trees are caked with silence. I’m
Aware the days pass quicker than before,
Smell staler too. And once they fall behind
They look like ruin. You have been here some time.
6. Success and Failure
by Edgar Albert
I do not think all failure’s undeserved,
And all success is merely someone’s luck;
Some men are down because they were unnerved,
And some are up because they kept their pluck.
Some men are down because they chose to shirk;
Some men are high because they did their work.
I do not think that all the poor are good,
That riches are the uniform of shame;
The beggar might have conquered if he would,
And that he begs, the world is not to blame.
Misfortune is not all that comes to mar;
Most men, themselves, have shaped the things they are
7. Mistakes Lead to Failure, Then Success.
by Dmakatu
Failure is not fatal.
Success is not final.
Road to success is always in construction.
I am successful because I laid a firm base.
A base from the bricks, mistakes threw at me.
Although I live going forward.
Life can only be understood backwards.
Looking back, I smile at past mistakes.
I learned from failure not success.
My life has no regrets.
Behind success, failure is a secret.
I never quit when I failed.
I failed until I succeed.
I learned a lot from mistakes.
Lessons can come disguised as mistakes.
The only mistake is not learning from mistakes.
8. Fear of Failure
by Madonna
Fear of failure is what causes
people not to try new things
When you fail it really stings
But how do you know you can do it unless you try
If I had wings I would fly really high.
We drill it in our children that failure is not an option
Instead we should let them go and tell them use caution
When we obsess over always being perfect
You will always feel wrecked.
I think we’re doing our children a disservice
When we never allow them to get embarrassed
I think it doesn’t teach the child anything if you give everyone a participation trophies instead of one team wins and one loses
They need to know that sometimes life is ruthless.
If we never teach failure our kids will not make it in life
They will always have strife
Failure teaches lessons so they don’t repeat them
We’re setting them up so they eventually win.
So we need to teach them not to be afraid
To fall on that grenade
Let them know it’s ok to fail ; what’s important is that they tried
And because they tried it will give them pride.
9. Power Failure
by Ariel
Hide my phone, lock my door,
not that it does much good anymore.
Love written on my arms,
x’s and o’s on my palms,
maybe they’ll wipe out the words behind my eyes,
left by the cold technological glare.
The imprint of pain long cut deep,
Still pops as I blink
in the fluorescent light.
No going back this time,
no matter the chance
your answer remains the same,
so mine much change.
My naivete and belief in you
Blacked out with this computer screen.
Log off so I cannot see your response.
All along I knew,
That chasing you was never worthwhile,
For you never once looked back
To see me waiting, arms outstretched,
broken smile.
Unplug the desktop, watch the power
Fade away,
And I know you won’t come looking
If I’m not there one day…
But still…
I think I’ll runaway,
but just for a while,
enough time to forget,
and forget to start over again
10. Failure and Success
by A. Welch
Failure, a word that haunts us all
A feeling that can make us small
It lurks in shadows, a constant fear
But it’s a part of life, so don’t shed a tear
For every failure, there’s a chance to grow
To learn and strive, to let your light show
Success may seem so far away
But keep moving forward, it will come one day
So don’t let failure get you down
Keep your head up, wear a smile, not a frown
For every failure, there’s a lesson to be learned
And success will come, if you keep your head up and yearn
So embrace the failures, embrace the pain
For it will only make your future gains
All the struggles and hardships you’ll face
Will only make your success all the more sweet and great
So don’t be afraid to take a risk
For failure is only temporary, and success is in the whisk
Just keep moving forward and don’t look back
For success is waiting, on the other side of the track
Poems about Failure and Fear
Confront the fears that hold us back from achieving our goals with poetry that speaks to the challenges of failure and the importance of courage in these poems about fear of failure.
1. Moment of Failure
by Poet Ish- Kavish
When you fail to achieve
When you lose your way
Your hopes are crushed
And you go in dark.
“You took your time
And still can’t get
What you want and want
At any cost”
This is what you think.
You try harder
But can’t reach the goal
Even being close to it
You can’t get it all.
You think you should quit
And this life is a waste
You leave your hope
And fall down on your bed.
As the sun rises
With a new hope
You try to forget the past
And again get trapped
In the web of failures and successes…
2. Why is it I Feel Like A Failure?
by Laura Jayne
Why is it I feel like a failure?
Why do I feel ready to fall?
Why is it I feel good at nothing
And that I can never stand tall?
Whenever something goes right for me,
It soon has to change and go wrong,
But I don’t know when this will happen,
All I know is it won’t take long.
Right now something seems to be going right,
And I really wish it could last,
But I know that this won’t happen,
And the end will be here fast.
3. Fear No More the Heat o’ the Sun
by Shakespeare
Fear no more the heat o’ the sun,
Nor the furious winter’s rages;
Thou thy worldly task hast done,
Home art gone, and ta’en thy wages:
Golden lads and girls all must,
As chimney-sweepers, come to dust.
Fear no more the frown o’ the great;
Thou art past the tyrant’s stroke;
Care no more to clothe and eat;
To thee the reed is as the oak:
The sceptre, learning, physic, must
All follow this, and come to dust.
Fear no more the lightning flash,
Nor the all-dreaded thunder stone;
Fear not slander, censure rash;
Thou hast finished joy and moan:
All lovers young, all lovers must
Consign to thee, and come to dust.
No exorciser harm thee!
Nor no witchcraft charm thee!
Ghost unlaid forbear thee!
Nothing ill come near thee!
Quiet consummation have;
And renownèd be thy grave!
4. When I Have Fears
by John Keats
When I have fears that I may cease to be
Before my pen has gleaned my teeming brain,
Before high-pilèd books, in charactery,
Hold like rich garners the full ripened grain;
When I behold, upon the night’s starred face,
Huge cloudy symbols of a high romance,
And think that I may never live to trace
Their shadows with the magic hand of chance;
And when I feel, fair creature of an hour,
That I shall never look upon thee more,
Never have relish in the faery power
Of unreflecting love—then on the shore
Of the wide world I stand alone, and think
Till love and fame to nothingness do sink.
5. How Fear Came Poem
by Rudyard Kipling
The stream is shrunk–the pool is dry,
And we be comrades, thou and I;
With fevered jowl and dusty flank
Each jostling each along the bank;
And, by one drouthy fear made still,
Forgoing thought of quest or kill.
Now ‘neath his dam the fawn may see,
The lean Pack-Wolf as cowed as he,
And the tall buck, unflinching, note
The fangs that tore his father’s throat.
The pools are shrunk–the streams are dry,
And we be playmates, thou and I,
Till yonder cloud–Good Hunting!–Loose
The rain that breaks our Water Truce.
6. Fear
by Sara Teasdale
I am afraid, oh I am so afraid!
The cold black fear is clutching me to-night
As long ago when they would take the light
And leave the little child who would have prayed,
Frozen and sleepless at the thought of death.
My heart that beats too fast will rest too soon;
I shall not know if it be night or noon, —
Yet shall I struggle in the dark for breath?
Will no one fight the Terror for my sake,
The heavy darkness that no dawn will break?
How can they leave me in that dark alone,
Who loved the joy of light and warmth so much,
And thrilled so with the sense of sound and touch, —
How can they shut me underneath a stone?
7. Success
by William Empson
I have mislaid the torment and the fear.
You should be praised for taking them away.
Those that doubt drugs, let them doubt which was here.
Well are they doubted for they turn out dear.
I feed on flatness and am last to leave.
Verse likes despair. Blame it on the beer
I have mislaid the torment and the fear.
All losses haunt us. It was a reprieve
Made Dostoevsky talk out queer and clear.
Those stay most haunting that most soon decieve
And turn out no loss of the various Zoo
The public spirits or the private play.
Praised once for having taken these away
What is it else then such a thing can do?
Lose is Find with great marsh light like you.
Those that doubt drugs, let them doubt which was here
When this leaves the green afterlight of day.
Nor they nor I know what we shall believe.
You should be praised for taking them away.
8. Those Perilous Hours
by Irwin Mercer
Where do you go when the cold wind blows,
and you’re lost in the woods at night?
The snowflakes fall and a lone wolf howls,
and your soul’s consumed by fright.
You drop to your knees and beg God please,
deliver me to a place of peace.
Though the wind still blows and the wolf still howls,
your soul is at peace in those perilous hours
Poems about Overcoming Failure
Be empowered by the stories of poets who have overcome failure and found success on the other side, and discover the power of resilience and perseverance in the face of adversity.
1. Failure Mother’s Success Child
by Brundaban Panda
Nature is neutral, good and bad,
Success is good but failure is bad.
Minus mud no lotus tree in pond,
Opposites play due roles on world.
Failure becomes a pillar of success,
Human being gains real experience.
So one wise maxim goes as follows,
Success is child of failure mother’s.
Time to time ant rides & falls down,
Lastly reaches at a desired position.
One must try with patience, courage,
After the failure comes success stage.
So the failure is a blessing in disguise,
Who overcomes failure he is the wise.
2. Fear
by Joe Filigno
Closing in on my emotions,
I fear unforgiving consequences await me,
The portrait of a man distressed by his own solitude.
The calm before the brutal inevitable,
I find myself waiting for a miracle to unfold.
Fears of anxiety rushing through my already distraught body,
My senses deadened, due to a hopeless state of mind.
Thoughts of confusion scamper hastily through my mind,
Dreading the time that life has set aside for me.
3. Good Timber
by Douglas Malloch
The tree that never had to fight
For sun and sky and air and light,
But stood out in the open plain
And always got its share of rain,
Never became a forest king
But lived and died a scrubby thing.
The man who never had to toil
To gain and farm his patch of soil,
Who never had to win his share
of sun and sky and light and air,
Never became a manly man
But lived and died as he began.
Good timber does not grow with ease,
The stronger wind, the stronger trees,
The further sky, the greater length,
The more the storm, the more the strength.
By sun and cold, by rain and snow,
In trees and men good timbers grow.
Where thickest lies the forest growth
We find the patriarchs of both.
And they hold counsel with the stars
Whose broken branches show the scars
Of many winds and much of strife.
This is the common law of life.
4. You Will Never See Me Fall
by Joyce Alcantara
You may see me struggle,
but you won’t see me fall.
Regardless if I’m weak or not,
I’m going to stand tall.
Everyone says life is easy,
but truly living it is not.
Times get hard,
people struggle
and constantly get put on the spot.
I’m going to wear the biggest smile,
even though I want to cry.
I’m going to fight to live,
even though I’m destined to die.
And even though it’s hard
and I may struggle through it all,
you may see me struggle…
but you will NEVER see me fall.
5. The Will to Win
by Berton Braley
If you want a thing bad enough
To go out and fight for it,
Work day and night for it,
Give up your time and your peace and
your sleep for it
If only desire of it
Makes you quite mad enough
Never to tire of it,
Makes you hold all other things tawdry
and cheap for it
If life seems all empty and useless without it
And all that you scheme and you dream is about it,
If gladly you’ll sweat for it,
Fret for it, Plan for it,
Lose all your terror of God or man for it,
If you’ll simply go after that thing that you want.
With all your capacity,
Strength and sagacity,
Faith, hope and confidence, stern pertinacity,
If neither cold poverty, famished and gaunt,
Nor sickness nor pain
Of body or brain
Can turn you away from the thing that you want,
If dogged and grim you besiege and beset it,
You’ll get it!
6. Rise
by Sagar Yadav
I will rise
After every fall.
I will rise
And stand tall.
I will rise
Over the wall.
I will rise
Above them all.
Like the sun,
Which never dies.
Though sets every night,
Every day it does rise.
Like the ocean
Whose tides
Many times they are down,
But invariably they rise.
Like the trees,
From seeds they arise,
And heights great
They rise and rise.
After falling once,
Twice and thrice,
Again and again
I will rise and rise.
I will rise
After every fall.
After every fall
I will rise.
7. The Trials of Life
by John P. Read
It’s only through mistakes we make
We learn where we went wrong.
It’s only when we’re far from home
We realize where we belong.
It’s only when we close our eyes
Our dreams seem clear and bright.
It’s only in our darkest hours
We truly see the light.
It’s only when we lose our way
We pray to the stars above.
It’s only through times of grief
We learn the true meaning of love.
It’s only when all hope seems lost
And our weary journey seems so far,
When all the world’s against you,
We learn how strong we really are.
All things are sent to try us.
We must strive and give our best.
I believe God is watching over us,
And he guides us in our quest.
8. You Could Have Given Up
by S.C. Lourie
You could have given up,
but you kept on going.
You could have seen obstacles,
but you called them adventures.
You could have called them weeds,
but instead you called them wildflowers.
You could have died a caterpillar,
but you fought on to be a butterfly.
You could have denied yourself goodness,
but instead you chose to show
yourself self-love. You could have defined
yourself by the dark days, but instead
through them you realised your light.
9. Climb Every Mountain
by Eric R. Harvey
We all have a massive mountain to climb,
Especially those who’ve lost someone dear.
But climb that big mountain, we surely must,
If we are going to overcome fear.
Everyone’s got a big mountain to climb,
All those with an incurable illness.
Each step on that rocky, dangerous climb
Gets you nearer to an inner stillness.
Each of us have a big mountain to climb.
It might well be just a family rift,
But you must begin to climb that mountain
Because families are a God given gift.
Everyone’s got their own mountain to climb.
It could be something you just can’t accept,
But you must sort it out, make it good now,
Or you’ll never take that first tiny step.
We all have a great big mountain to climb.
We walk the same path that our fathers trod,
But when you’ve ascended and reached the top,
Then surely, you will be nearer to your God
10. Love
by J. Brown
Love is a fragile thing, so easily broken
A heart once full of joy, now left unspoken
The pain of love lost cuts like a knife
Leaves us alone in the dark, lost in life
We try to pick up the pieces, to mend the seams
But the damage is done, and our heart screams
We wonder where we went wrong, what we could have done
But love’s failure leaves us feeling undone
We try to move on, to find love anew
But the memories linger, a constant hue
Of all the times we laughed, and all the times we cried
The love we shared, now only a memory, has died
But even in failure, love teaches us a lesson
To hold on tight, and cherish every blessing
For even though love may sometimes falter
It’s a beautiful thing, and worth the alter
11. Failure (Haiku)
by Anonymous
In the midst of failure
A glimmer of hope remains
A chance to try again
Final Thoughts
When it comes to failure, it’s all about perspective.
Sure, it can be painful and frustrating in the moment, but it’s also an opportunity to learn and grow.
Poetry can be a powerful tool for helping us shift our perspective and find the silver lining in our failures.
Whether it’s through funny, inspirational, or introspective verses, poetry about failure reminds us that we’re not alone in our struggles and that even the greatest minds have faced setbacks and challenges.
So next time you experience a setback, turn to the words of poets and find solace in their insights and wisdom. Keep on keeping on!
Did you like reading these poems for failure?
