"What is Success" by Ralph Waldo Emerson

 

What is Success

What is Success?

 

To laugh often and much;

 

To win the respect of intelligent people

and the affection of children;

 

To earn the appreciation of honest critics

and endure the betrayal of false friends;

 

To appreciate beauty;

To find the best in others;

 

To leave the world a bit better, whether by

a healthy child, a garden patch

or a redeemed social condition;

 

To know even one life has breathed

easier because you have lived;

 

This is to have succeeded.

Enjoy the poem with beautiful music.

poem video👇

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Who wrote the poem "What is Success"?

Ralph Waldo Emerson (May 25, 1803 – April 27, 1882)

 Ralph Waldo Emerson was an American essayist, lecturer, philosopher, abolistionist, and poet in the 19th century. He was considered as a champion of individualism and led the transcendentalist movement. His works had a great influence on many philosophers and writers including Henry David Thoreau, a fellow transcendentalist.

"What is Success" explanation

In the poem, the poet shares his own meaning of living a successful life. The poet’s definitions of success include happiness, wholesome relationships, beauty, and contributions to society. While so many people pursue fame, power, money, and pleasure, this simple yet profound poem makes the reader to think about the true meaning of success in life.

"Memory: by Thomas Bailey Aldrich

 

Memory

My mind lets go a thousand things

Like dates of wars and deaths of kings,

And yet recalls the very hour--

'T was noon by yonder village tower,

And on the last blue noon in May--

The wind came briskly up this way,

Crisping the brook beside the road;

Then, pausing here, set down its load

Of pine-scents, and shook listlessly

Two petals from that wild-rose tree.

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poem video👇

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Who wrote the poem "Memory"?

Thomas Bailey Aldrich (November 11, 1836 – March 19, 1907)

 

Thomas Bailey Aldrich was an American poet, novelist, short-story writer, and editor. He started writing as a teenager and became friends with other young poets including Walt Whitman. He was greatly admired for his talent and successful in all genres. He also gave inspirations to many famous writers including Mark Twain, who reportedly got inpired by Thomas’ semi-autobiographical novel “Story of A Bad Boy” and wrote “Tom Sawyer.” His last words were “In spite of it all, I’m going to sleep.”

"Memory" explanation

In the poem, the speaker talks about transience and complexity of memory. Although some important memories such as historic names and dates can fade, our mind can hold on to seemingly trivial things such as movement, smell, and touch of the wind and rose petals.

"I Knew A Man by Sight" by Henry David Thoreau

 

I Knew A Man By Sight

I knew a man by sight,

A blameless wight,

Who, for a year or more,

Had daily passed my door,

Yet converse none had had with him.

 

I met him in a lane,

Him and his cane,

About three miles from home,

Where I had chanced to roam,

And volumes stared at him, and he at me.

 

In a more distant place

I glimpsed his face,

And bowed instinctively;

Starting he bowed to me,

Bowed simultaneously, and passed along.

 

 

Next, in a foreign land

I grasped his hand,

And had a social chat,

About this thing and that,

As I had known him well a thousand years.

 

Late in a wilderness

I shared his mess,

For he had hardships seen,

And I a wanderer been;

He was my bosom friend, and I was his.

 

And as, methinks, shall all,

Both great and small,

That ever lived on earth,

Early or late their birth,

Stranger and foe, one day each other know.

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poem video👇

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Who wrote the poem "I Knew A Man by Sight"?

Henry David Thoreau (July 12, 1817 – May 6, 1862)

Henry David Thoreau was an American poet, essayist, naturalist, and philosopher. He was a leading transcendentalist and is best known for this book “Walden,” a personal reflection upon simple living in nature. His writings display a unique combination of a poetic sensibility, philosophical austerity, and attention to practical detail. Thoreau was a lifelong abolitionist, and he pioneered modern-day environmentalism. His political philosophy of civil disobedience, which argued for disobedience to an unjust state, later greatly influenced such historical figures as Leo Tolstoy, Mahatma Gandhi, and Martin Luther King Jr. He died of tuberculosis at 44.

"I Knew A Man by Sight" explanation

The poem is about how two strangers meet and become friends. The speaker then goes on to say that everyone is connected to each other and there are no strangers in this world. No matter how others appear (great or small/ stranger and foe), we are all connected to each other as long as we belong to the same universe and can build a deeper relationship.

"To Autumn: by John Keats

 

To Autumn

Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness,

Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;

Conspiring with him how to load and bless

With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run;

To bend with apples the moss’d cottage-trees,

And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;

To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells

With a sweet kernel; to set budding more,

And still more, later flowers for the bees,

Until they think warm days will never cease,

For summer has o’er-brimm’d their clammy cells.

 

Who hath not seen thee oft amid thy store?

Sometimes whoever seeks abroad may find

Thee sitting careless on a granary floor,

Thy hair soft-lifted by the winnowing wind;

Or on a half-reap’d furrow sound asleep,

Drows’d with the fume of poppies, while thy hook

Spares the next swath and all its twined flowers:

And sometimes like a gleaner thou dost keep

Steady thy laden head across a brook;

Or by a cyder-press, with patient look,

Thou watchest the last oozings hours by hours.

 

Where are the songs of spring? Ay, Where are they?

Think not of them, thou hast thy music too,—

While barred clouds bloom the soft-dying day,

And touch the stubble-plains with rosy hue;

Then in a wailful choir the small gnats mourn

Among the river sallows, borne aloft

Or sinking as the light wind lives or dies;

And full-grown lambs loud bleat from hilly bourn;

Hedge-crickets sing; and now with treble soft

The red-breast whistles from a garden-croft;

And gathering swallows twitter in the skies.

Enjoy the poem with beautiful music.

poem video👇

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Who wrote the poem "To Autumn"?

John Keats (October 31, 1795 – February 23, 1821)

John Keats was an English Romantic poet. He was born in London as the eldest of 4 children. His works had been published for only 4 years before his death from tuberculosis at the age of 25. After his premature death, he became one of the most popular English poets. His poetic style distinctively causes extreme emotions through natural imagery.

"To Autumn" explanation

In the poem, the speaker appreciates the beauty and grandeur related to various phenomena of the autumn season.

"Trees" by Joyce Kilmer

 

Trees

I think that I shall never see

A poem lovely as a tree.

 

A tree whose hungry mouth is prest

Against the earth’s sweet flowing breast;

 

A tree that looks at God all day,

And lifts her leafy arms to pray;

 

A tree that may in Summer wear

A nest of robins in her hair;

 

Upon whose bosom snow has lain;

Who intimately lives with rain.

 

Poems are made by fools like me,

But only God can make a tree.

Enjoy the poem with beautiful music.

poem video👇

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Who wrote the poem "Trees"?

Alfred Joyce Kilmer (December 6, 1886 – July 30, 1918)

 

Alfred Joyce Kilmer was an American poet, journalist, literary critic, lecturer, and editor. His poems often described the beauty of nature and his Roman Catholic faith. He was married to Aline Murray, a famous poet and author herself, in 1908 and had five children. He enlisted in the New York National Guard and was sent to France in 1917. He was killed at the Second Battle of the Marne in 1918 at the age of 31. He was considered as one of foremost American Roman Catholic poets of his time.

 

"Trees" explanation

In the poem, the speaker personifies trees to celebrate their natural beauty and praise God for creating them.

"Home And The Office" by Edgar Albert Guest

 

Home And The Office

Home is the place where the laughter should ring,

And man should be found at his best.

Let the cares of the day be as great as they may,

The night has been fashioned for rest.

So leave at the door when the toiling is o'er

All the burdens of worktime behind,

And just be a dad to your girl or your lad--

A dad of the rollicking kind.

 

The office is made for the tasks you must face;

It is built for the work you must do;

You may sit there and sigh as your cares pile up high,

And no one may criticize you;

You may worry and fret as you think of your debt,

You may grumble when plans go astray,

But when it comes night, and you shut your desk tight,

Don't carry the burdens away.

 

Keep daytime for toil and the nighttime for play,

Work as hard as you choose in the town,

But when the day ends, and the darkness descends,

Just forget that you're wearing a frown--

Go home with a smile! Oh, you'll find it worth while;

Go home light of heart and of mind;

Go home and be glad that you're loved as a dad,

A dad of the fun-loving kind.

Enjoy the poem with beautiful music.

poem video👇

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Who wrote the poem "Home And The Office"?

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.

"Home And The Office" explanation

In the poem, the speaker gives the reader wise advice about having a good and valuable time with your family at home, leaving whatever burdens or worries you may have during the day at work.

"The Rainbow" by Christina Rossetti

 

The Rainbow

Boats sail on the rivers,

And ships sail on the seas;

But clouds that sail across the sky

Are prettier far than these.

 

There are bridges on the rivers,

As pretty as you please;

But the bow that bridges heaven,

And overtops the trees,

And builds a road from earth to sky,

Is prettier far than these.

Enjoy the poem with beautiful music.

poem video👇

https://youtu.be/Ikw5fFQfE1k

Who wrote the poem "The Rainbow"?

Christina Rossetti (December 5, 1830 ~ December 29, 1894)

 

Christina Rossetti was an English poet who was lauded as one of the foremost female poets of the 19th-century Victorian era. She wrote romantic, devotional, and children's poems, marked by symbolism and intense feeling. Her literary status was often compared to that of Elizabeth Barren Browning, and upon Browning's death in 1861, Rossetti was hailed as Browning's rightful successor. She opposed slavery, cruelty to animals, and the exploitation of girls in under-age prostitution. Rossetti suffered from Graves' disease in the later decades of her life. In 1893, she was diagnosed of breast cancer and died of a recurrence in 1894.

"The rainbow" explanation

In the poem, the speaker makes comparisons between ships/boats and clouds, and bridges and rainbows. She cherishes superior beauty of natural or God-made things compared to man-made things.

"As I Grew Older" by Langston Hughes

 

As I Grew Older

It was a long time ago.

I have almost forgotten my dream.

But it was there then,

In front of me,

Bright like a sun—

My dream.

And then the wall rose,

Rose slowly,

Slowly,

Between me and my dream.

Rose until it touched the sky—

The wall.

Shadow.

I am black.

I lie down in the shadow.

No longer the light of my dream before me,

Above me.

Only the thick wall.

Only the shadow.

My hands!

My dark hands!

Break through the wall!

Find my dream!

Help me to shatter this darkness,

To smash this night,

To break this shadow

Into a thousand lights of sun,

Into a thousand whirling dreams

Of sun!

Enjoy the poem with beautiful music.

poem video👇

https://youtu.be/Zw1inijA7K4

Who wrote the poem "As I Grew Older"?

Langston Hughes (February 1, 1901 – May 22, 1967)

 

Langston Hughes was an African-American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist who pioneered the literary art form called “jazz poetry.” He is also known as a leader of the Harlem Renaissance. Self-admittedly influenced by Paul Lawrence Dunbar, Carl Sandburg, and Walt Whitman, Hughes is known for insightful portrayals of black life and culture of his time.

"As I Grew Older" explanation

In the poem, the speaker depicts hardships and obstacles he had to face as an African American. However he refuses to stop there and goes on to urge his “dark hands” to break through the wall and find his dream again. The speaker represents and empowers all African Americans whose dreams had to be relinquished because of the racial discrimination and persecution in the early 20^th century America.

 

"The Rainy Day" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

 

The Rainy Day

The day is cold, and dark, and dreary

It rains, and the wind is never weary;

The vine still clings to the mouldering wall,

But at every gust the dead leaves fall,

And the day is dark and dreary.

 

My life is cold, and dark, and dreary;

It rains, and the wind is never weary;

My thoughts still cling to the mouldering Past,

But the hopes of youth fall thick in the blast,

And the days are dark and dreary.

 

Be still, sad heart! and cease repining;

Behind the clouds is the sun still shining;

Thy fate is the common fate of all,

Into each life some rain must fall,

Some days must be dark and dreary.

Enjoy the poem with beautiful music.

poem video👇 

https://youtu.be/pr8Qrg5UImw

Who wrote the poem "The Rainy Day"?

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (February 27, 1807 – March 24, 1882)

 

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was an American poet and educator. He was one of the most famous American poets of the 19th century, both domestically and internationally, and was one of the few American writers honored in the Poets' Corner of Westminster Abbey. Longfellow was born in Portland, Maine (then still part of Massachusetts). He studied at Bowdoin College and became a professor there and later at Harvard University. His poems were known for their musicality, often including stories of mythology and legend.

"The Rainy Day" explanation

In our life, we all face dark and dreary times. The speaker in the poem reminds us that no matter dark and difficult it may seem, it will pass too, and there are always better days to come.