Forward

Ella Wheeler Wilcox 1855 (Janesville) – 1919



Let me look always forward. Never back.
Was I not formed for progress? Otherwise
With onward pointing feet and searching eyes
Would God have set me squarely on the track
Up which we all must labour with life's pack?
Yonder the goal of all this travel lies.
What matters it, if yesterday the skies
With light were golden, or with clouds were black?
I would not lose to-morrow's glow of dawn
By peering backward after sun's long set.
New hope is fairer than an old regret;
Let me pursue my journey and press on-
Nor tearful eyed, stand ever in one spot,
A briny statue like the wife of Lot.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

34 sec read
76

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABBAABBACDDEFF
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 583
Words 112
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 14

Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Ella Wheeler Wilcox was an American author and poet. more…

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    "Forward" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 19 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/10612/forward>.

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