"Can't" by Edgar Albert Guest

 

Can't

Can't is the worst word that's written or spoken;

Doing more harm here than slander and lies;

On it is many a strong spirit broken,

And with it many a good purpose dies.

It springs from the lips of the thoughtless each morning

And robs us of courage we need through the day:

It rings in our ears like a timely-sent warning

And laughs when we falter and fall by the way.

 

Can't is the father of feeble endeavor,

The parent of terror and half-hearted work;

It weakens the efforts of artisans clever,

And makes of the toiler an indolent shirk.

It poisons the soul of the man with a vision,

It stifles in infancy many a plan;

It greets honest toiling with open derision

And mocks at the hopes and the dreams of a man.

 

Can't is a word none should speak without blushing;

To utter it should be a symbol of shame;

Ambition and courage it daily is crushing;

It blights a man's purpose and shortens his aim.

Despise it with all of your hatred of error;

Refuse it the lodgment it seeks in your brain;

Arm against it as a creature of terror,

And all that you dream of you some day shall gain.

 

 

Can't is the word that is foe to ambition,

An enemy ambushed to shatter your will;

Its prey is forever the man with a mission

And bows but to courage and patience and skill.

Hate it, with hatred that's deep and undying,

For once it is welcomed 'twill break any man;

Whatever the goal you are seeking, keep trying

And answer this demon by saying: "I can."

Enjoy the poem with beautiful music.

poem video👇

https://youtu.be/wLPfHiGM-M4

Who wrote the poem "Can't"?

Edgar Albert Guest (August 20, 1881 ~ August 5, 1959)

Edgar Albert Guest was a Britishborn American poet who was popular in the first half of the 20th century. He wrote 11,000 poems which were syndicated in 300 newspapers. He became known as the People's Poet because his poems were easy to read and had an inspirational and optimistic view of everyday life with such themes as family, work, children, and God.

"Can't" explanation

There is no bigger obstacle than the lack of your own belief in yourself. As Henry Ford famously said, “Whether you think you can, or think you can’t, you are right.”

"Silver" by Walter de la Mare

 

Silver

Slowly, silently, now the moon

Walks the night in her silver shoon;

This way, and that, she peers, and sees

Silver fruit upon silver trees;

One by one the casements catch

Her beams beneath the silvery thatch;

Couched in his kennel, like a log,

With paws of silver sleeps the dog;

From their shadowy cote the white breasts peep

Of doves in a silver-feathered sleep;

A harvest mouse goes scampering by,

With silver claws and a silver eye;

And moveless fish in the water gleam,

By silver reeds in a silver stream.

Enjoy the poem with  beautiful music.

poem video👇

https://youtu.be/OY92pu0HdAg

Who wrote the poem "Silver"?

Walter de la Mare (April 25, 1873 – June 22, 1956)

Walter de la Mare was a British poet, short story writer and novelist. His works range diversely from children’s books to horror stories, often focusing around the themes of childhood, imagination, and the supernatural. He preferred to be called as “Jack” by family and friends instead of his name “Walter.” He was happily married to Elfrida Ingpen, who was ten years older than he, and the couple had four children. His wife died in 1943 of Parkinson’s disease. He died of a heart disease in 1956, and in his final year, he was cared for by a nurse whom he loved but never had a physical relationship with.

"Silver" explanation

In the poem, the speaker describes a calm, peaceful, and beautiful night scene impacted by the silver moonlight.

"Sailing to Byzantium" by William Butler Yeats

 

Sailing to Byzantium

I

 

That is no country for old men. The young

In one another's arms, birds in the trees,

—Those dying generations—at their song,

The salmon-falls, the mackerel-crowded seas,

Fish, flesh, or fowl, commend all summer long

Whatever is begotten, born, and dies.

Caught in that sensual music all neglect

Monuments of unageing intellect.

 

 

II

 

An aged man is but a paltry thing,

A tattered coat upon a stick, unless

Soul clap its hands and sing, and louder sing

For every tatter in its mortal dress,

Nor is there singing school but studying

Monuments of its own magnificence;

And therefore I have sailed the seas and come

To the holy city of Byzantium.

 

 

III

 

O sages standing in God's holy fire

As in the gold mosaic of a wall,

Come from the holy fire, perne in a gyre,

And be the singing-masters of my soul.

Consume my heart away; sick with desire

And fastened to a dying animal

It knows not what it is; and gather me

Into the artifice of eternity.

 

 

IV

 

Once out of nature I shall never take

My bodily form from any natural thing,

But such a form as Grecian goldsmiths make

Of hammered gold and gold enamelling

To keep a drowsy Emperor awake;

Or set upon a golden bough to sing

To lords and ladies of Byzantium

Of what is past, or passing, or to come.

Enjoy the poem with beautiful music.

poem video👇

https://youtu.be/fbw_Ipnp3jk

Who wrote the poem "Sailing to Byzantium"?

William Butler Yeats (June 13, 1865 – January 28, 1939)

William Butler Yeats was an Irish poet, playwright, prose writer, and is widely considered as one of the greatest poets of the 20^th century. He was born to the Protestant, Anglo-Irish community that considered themselves English people born in Ireland and had largely controlled the economic, political, and social life of Ireland. However, Yeats strongly affirmed his Irish nationality and found inspiration in Irish legends and the occult in his early career. Later his poetry became more physical and realistic. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1923. 

"Sailing to Byzantium" explanation

In the poem, the speaker (an old man) tells the story of a journey to Byzantium, an old Greek colony (later Constantinople, and then Istanbul, Turkey). He describes a sense of alienation he experienced in his country (perhaps Ireland) where only the young and new and the worldly pleasures (“sensual music”) are appreciated, with “monuments of unaging intellect” neglected. He leaves his country and sails to Byzantium, a historical place known as a center for arts and intellectualism, where his artistic legacy can be appreciated for eternity. The poem was written in the late 1920’s when the poet was in his 60’s. Some speculate that the old man (the speaker) in this poem reflects the poet’s own feeling of alienation then in Ireland.

"Winter-Time" by Robert Louis Stevenson

 

Winter-Time

Late lies the wintry sun a-bed,

A frosty, fiery sleepy-head;

Blinks but an hour or two; and then,

A blood-red orange, sets again.

 

Before the stars have left the skies,

At morning in the dark I rise;

And shivering in my nakedness,

By the cold candle, bathe and dress.

 

Close by the jolly fire I sit

To warm my frozen bones a bit;

Or with a reindeer-sled, explore

The colder countries round the door.

 

 

When to go out, my nurse doth wrap

Me in my comforter and cap;

The cold wind burns my face, and blows

Its frosty pepper up my nose.

 

 

Black are my steps on silver sod;

Thick blows my frosty breath abroad;

And tree and house, and hill and lake,

Are frosted like a wedding cake.

Enjoy the poem with beautiful music.

poem video👇

https://youtu.be/kD1YwwZKwt8

Who wrote the poem "Winter-Time"?

Robert Louis Stevenson (November 13, 1850 – December 3, 1894)

Robert Louis Stevenson was a Scottish novelist, essayist, poet, and travel writer. From an early age, Stevenson suffered from serious bronchial illnesses. Despite his poor health, Stevenson continued to write prolifically and travelled widely. His best known works include “Treasure Island” and “Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.” He gained great literary fame based on his profound ideas and catchy writing style.

"Winter-Time" explanation

In the poem, the speaker describes the winter season from a child’s perspective, using interesting images and personification.

"The Year" by Ella Wheeler Wilcox

 

The Year

What can be said in New Year rhymes,

That’s not been said a thousand times?

 

The new years come, the old years go,

We know we dream, we dream we know.

 

We rise up laughing with the light,

We lie down weeping with the night.

 

We hug the world until it stings,

We curse it then and sigh for wings.

 

We live, we love, we woo, we wed,

We wreathe our prides, we sheet our dead.

 

 

We laugh, we weep, we hope, we fear,

And that’s the burden of a year.

Enjoy the poem with beautiful music.

poem video👇 

https://youtu.be/Z0XB6eXmuJY

Who wrote the poem "The Year"?

Ella Wheeler Wilcox (November 5, 1850 – October 30, 1919)

Ella Wheeler Wilcox was an American author and poet who wrote “Solitude,” which contains the famous lines “Laugh, and the world laughs with you; weep, and you weep alone.” Popular among people rather than among literary critics, she often displayed in her poems cheerful and optimistic sentiments in plain and rhyming words. After she married Robert Wilcox in 1884, the couple became interested in spiritualism and promised each other that whoever died first would return and communicate with the other. After her husband died in 1916 after over 30 years of marriage, she was overwhelmed by grief and waited long to hear from her deceased husband in vain. She also believed in reincarnation. She died of cancer in 1919.

"The Year" explanation

In the poem, the speaker describes the winter season from a child’s perspective, using interesting images and personification.

"The Secret Heart" by Robert Peter Tristram Coffin

 

The Secret Heart

Across the years he could recall

His father one way best of all.

 

In the stillest hour of night

The boy awakened to a light.

 

Half in dreams, he saw his sire

With his great hands full of fire.

 

The man had struck a match to see

If his son slept peacefully.

 

He held his palms each side the spark

His love had kindled in the dark.

 

His two hands were curved apart

In the semblance of a heart.

 

He wore, it seemed to his small son,

A bare heart on his hidden one,

 

A heart that gave out such a glow

No son awake could bear to know.

 

It showed a look upon his face

Too tender for the day to trace.

 

One instant, it lit all about,

And then the secret heart went out.

 

But it shone long enough for one

To know that hands held up the sun

Enjoy the poem with beautiful music.

poem video👇 

https://youtu.be/fZTBztCroIM

Who wrote the poem "The Secret Heart"?

Robert Peter Tristram Coffin (March 18, 1892 – January 20, 1955)

Robert P.T. Coffin was an American poet, educator, editor, literary critic, and writer. He won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1936. He was the youngest of ten children. He received his undergraduate degree from Bowdoin College, Masters of Arts from Princeton University, and Doctor of Literature from Oxford University. He also served with the US Army in World War I. He died of a heart attack at the age of 62.

"The Secret Heart" explanation

In the poem, the speaker narrates the fondest childhood memory of his father. One night, a boy awoke to see his father checking on him (to see if his son is sleeping well) with a lit match in cupped hands. “Half in dreams,” the boy thinks the match light looks like a heart on his father’s chest, “a bare heart on his hidden one.” This poem was written in the early 20^th century. Back then, a man wasn’t supposed to express his emotions. That is why the father in this poem had to secretly express his love for his son at night with a match. Hence, “Secret Love.” Fortunately, the son realized his father’s love (“To know that hands held up the sun” (son)) and remembers the moment as a tender childhood memory of his father. Do you have a good memory with your father?

"There is no frigate like a book" by Emily Dickinson

 

There is no frigate like a book 

There is no Frigate like a Book

To take us Lands away,

Nor any Coursers like a Page

Of prancing Poetry –

This Traverse may the poorest take

Without oppress of Toll –

How frugal is the Chariot

That bears a Human soul.

Enjoy the poem with beautiful music.

poem video👇

https://youtu.be/1muT_HS4XD4

Who wrote the poem "There is no frigate like a book"?

Emily Elizabeth Dickinson (December 10, 1830 – May 15, 1886)

Emily Elizabeth Dickinson was an American poet who was born in Amherst, Massachusetts. She spent most of her adult life at the family home in isolation, attending to her ill mother. Introverted and timid, she never married or sought a permanent romantic relationship all her life. Although she wrote nearly 1,800 poems during her lifetime, her poetry was largely misunderstood or underrated while she was alive. Her poems were quite original and disregarded many conventional rules, containing short lines, typically lacking titles, and often using imperfect rhyme and odd-looking syntax. Her poetry however captures universal feelings in a simple sentence with unique but resonating metaphors and reflects the poet’s lively, imaginative, and dynamic inner world. Her poetic genius began to be appreciated only after her death when her sister published her works. Now Dickinson is regarded as one of the most important American poets.

"There is no frigate like a book" explanation

In the poem, the speaker compares reading with various means of travelling, stating that reading (particularly books of poetry) is superior because it’s farther reaching and cheaper. This poem is the title poem of a short book of three poems that Dickinson published for young children.

"Blow, Blow, Thou Winter Wind" by William Shakespeare

 

Blow, Blow, Thou Winter Wind

Blow, blow, thou winter wind,

Thou art not so unkind

As man’s ingratitude;

Thy tooth is not so keen,

Because thou art not seen,

Although thy breath be rude.

Heigh-ho! sing, heigh-ho! unto the green holly:

Most friendship is feigning, most loving mere folly:

Then, heigh-ho, the holly!

This life is most jolly.

 

Freeze, freeze, thou bitter sky,

That dost not bite so nigh

As benefits forgot:

Though thou the waters warp,

Thy sting is not so sharp

As friend remembered not.

Heigh-ho! sing, heigh-ho! unto the green holly..

Enjoy the poem with beautiful music.

poem video👇

https://youtu.be/3UTTMiKMNMM

Who wrote the poem "Blow, Blow, Thou Winter Wind"?

William Shakespeare (April 26, 1564 – April 23, 1616)

William Shakespeare was an English playwright, poet, and actor of the Renaissance era. He is regarded as the greatest writer in the English language, often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon." Few public records remain about his private life, causing speculations about his physical appearances, sexuality, religious beliefs and the authorship of some of his works. His works demonstrate a wide range of human emotions and conflicts, touching so many people's minds throughout the world for over 400 years.

"Blow, Blow, Thou Winter Wind" explanation

In the poem, the speaker compares the ingratitude and betrayal of his friend with the harsh winter wind. This poem was published in 1623 in the play, “As You Like It.” In the play, Amiens, a lord, sings the poem, stating that a friend’s ingratitude causes more pain than the harsh winter wind.

"The Best Thing in the World" by Elizabeth Barrett Browning

The Best Thing in the World

What’s the best thing in the world ?

June-rose, by May-dew impearled;

Sweet south-wind, that means no rain;

Truth, not cruel to a friend;

Pleasure, not in haste to end;

Beauty, not self-decked and curled

Till its pride is over-plain;

Light, that never makes you wink;

Memory, that gives no pain;

Love, when, so, you're loved again.

What's the best thing in the world ?

— Something out of it, I think.

Enjoy the poem with beautiful music.

poem video👇

https://youtu.be/7eVAZ6J0gMM

Who wrote the poem "The Best Thing in the World"?

Elizabeth Barrett Browning (March 6, 1806 — June 29, 1861)

Elizabeth Barrett Browning was an English poet of the Victorian era, famous in England and the U.S. during her lifetime. She was the eldest of 12 children and wrote poetry from 11. She was an avid reader and writer, and Shakespeare was her favorite. From 15, she suffered from frail health due to intense head and spinal pain and lung problems throughout her life. After her 1844 volume "Poems" had a great success, Robert Browning, an English poet and playwright, was inspired to write to her, praising her work. The two met in 1845, fell in love, and soon got married. Their special bond had an important influence on their respective subsequent writings. Her work also had a great influence on famous contemporary writers such as the American poets Edgar Allan Poe and Emily Dickinson.

"The Best Thing in the World" explanation

In the poem, the speaker asks a rhetorical question “what’s the best thing in the world?” She then provides her own answers: June-rose, sweet south-wind, truth, pleasure, beauty, light, and memory. By doing so, she invokes the readers’ own experiences related to these. She also invites the readers to think of their own opinion about the most valuable things in the world. What do you value the most in your life?