When You've Done All You Can Do



When you've done all you can do
to nurse, preserve and spare
a fruitless love affair it is time to construe
that issue as unfair and give-up all repair
When you've done all you can do
to build, revamp and hone
a perfect muscle tone it is time to construe
that mission as a groan and seek a comfort zone
When you've done all you can do
to solve, restore and mend
a conflict with a friend
it is time to construe
that trouble as dead-end and craft a novel bend
When you've done all you can do
to tweak, better and right
a shady fly-by-night it is time to construe
that business as a blight and switch-off every light
Font size:
Collection  PDF     
 

Submitted on February 05, 2010

Modified on March 05, 2023

37 sec read
2

Quick analysis:

Scheme AbabAcacAddadAeae
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 597
Words 120
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 17

Wallace Dean LaBenne

Professor, therapist, author and poet. more…

All Wallace Dean LaBenne poems | Wallace Dean LaBenne Books

5 fans

Discuss the poem When You've Done All You Can Do with the community...

0 Comments

    Translation

    Find a translation for this poem in other languages:

    Select another language:

    • - Select -
    • 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
    • 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
    • Español (Spanish)
    • Esperanto (Esperanto)
    • 日本語 (Japanese)
    • Português (Portuguese)
    • Deutsch (German)
    • العربية (Arabic)
    • Français (French)
    • Русский (Russian)
    • ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
    • 한국어 (Korean)
    • עברית (Hebrew)
    • Gaeilge (Irish)
    • Українська (Ukrainian)
    • اردو (Urdu)
    • Magyar (Hungarian)
    • मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
    • Indonesia (Indonesian)
    • Italiano (Italian)
    • தமிழ் (Tamil)
    • Türkçe (Turkish)
    • తెలుగు (Telugu)
    • ภาษาไทย (Thai)
    • Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
    • Čeština (Czech)
    • Polski (Polish)
    • Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
    • Românește (Romanian)
    • Nederlands (Dutch)
    • Ελληνικά (Greek)
    • Latinum (Latin)
    • Svenska (Swedish)
    • Dansk (Danish)
    • Suomi (Finnish)
    • فارسی (Persian)
    • ייִדיש (Yiddish)
    • հայերեն (Armenian)
    • Norsk (Norwegian)
    • English (English)

    Citation

    Use the citation below to add this poem to your bibliography:

    Style:MLAChicagoAPA

    "When You've Done All You Can Do" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 25 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/90947/when-you've-done-all-you-can-do>.

    Become a member!

    Join our community of poets and poetry lovers to share your work and offer feedback and encouragement to writers all over the world!

    April 2024

    Poetry Contest

    Join our monthly contest for an opportunity to win cash prizes and attain global acclaim for your talent.
    5
    days
    8
    hours
    16
    minutes

    Special Program

    Earn Rewards!

    Unlock exciting rewards such as a free mug and free contest pass by commenting on fellow members' poems today!

    Browse Poetry.com

    Quiz

    Are you a poetry master?

    »
    "I walk down the garden paths, and all the daffodils are blowing"
    A Emily Dickinson
    B Amy Lowell
    C Gwendolyn Brooks
    D Elizabeth Barrett Browning