Poem by Emma Lazarus

Success

OFT have I brooded on defeat and pain,
The pathos of the stupid, stumbling throng.
These I ignore to-day and only long
To pour my soul forth in one trumpet strain,
One clear, grief-shattering, triumphant song,
For all the victories of man's high endeavor,
Palm-bearing, laurel deeds that live forever,
The splendor clothing him whose will is strong.
Hast thou beheld the deep, glad eyes of one
Who has persisted and achieved? Rejoice!
On naught diviner shines the all-seeing sun.
Salute him with free heart and choral voice,
'Midst flippant, feeble crowds of spectres wan,
The bold, significant, successful man. 

1. The New Ezekiel
2. Saint Romualdo
3. Magnetism
4. On the Proposal to Erect a Monument in England to Lord Byron
5. August Moon

Edgar Guest Success ("I hold no dream of fortune vast")

Print

1277 Views

Last Poems

To Russian version