Not they who soar, but they who plod
Their rugged way, unhelped, to God
Are heroes; they who higher fare,
And, flying, fan the upper air,
Miss all the toil that hugs the sod.
‘Tis they whose backs have felt the rod,
Whose feet have pressed the path unshod,
May smile upon defeated care,
Not they who soar.
High up there are no thorns to prod,
Nor boulders lurking ‘neath the clod
To turn the keenness of the share,
For flight is ever free and rare;
But heroes they the soil who’ve trod,
Not they who soar!
(Paul Laurence Dunbar)
More Poetry from Paul Laurence Dunbar:
Paul Laurence Dunbar Poems based on Topics: God, Heroism, Flying- Ione (Paul Laurence Dunbar Poems)
- The Party (Paul Laurence Dunbar Poems)
- How Lucy Backslid (Paul Laurence Dunbar Poems)
- The Spellin'-Bee (Paul Laurence Dunbar Poems)
- A Cabin Tale (Paul Laurence Dunbar Poems)
- An Ante-Bellum Sermon (Paul Laurence Dunbar Poems)
Readers Who Like This Poem Also Like:
Based on Topics: God Poems, Heroism Poems, Flying PoemsBased on Keywords: keenness, prod, unhelped
- Medulla Poetarum Romanorum - VOL. I. (God - Grotto) (Henry Baker Poems)
- An Old Tale Re-Told (Madison Julius Cawein Poems)
- An Oriental Apologue (James Russell Lowell Poems)
- The Song Of Hiawatha XII: The Son Of The Evening Star (Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Poems)
- The Song Of Hiawatha XVII: The Hunting Of Pau-Puk Keewis (Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Poems)