poems-about-failure

84 Poems about Failure to Inspire You

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

       by Edgar A. Guest

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?

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