There’s something truly magical about poetry that uplifts and inspires during tough times.
I find myself drawn to poems that encourage and empower, offering a sense of hope when I need it most.
Here are 10 invigorating poems about encouragement that will resonate within you, igniting a passion for growth and resilience.
Let’s dive in!
My favorite poem about encouragement
#1 “Never Say Fail” by Anonymous
Keep working ’tis wiser
Than sitting aside,
And dreaming and sighing
And waiting the tide.
In life’s earnest battle
They only prevail
Who daily march onward,
And never say fail!
In life’s rosy morning,
In manhood’s firm pride,
Let this be the motto
Your footsteps to guide :
In storm and in sunshine,
Whatever assail,
We’ll onward and conquer,
And never say fail!
This motivating poem captures the essence of perseverance and the importance of action in the face of life’s challenges.
I find it inspiring because it encourages us to keep moving forward, reminding us that success comes to those who refuse to give up.
Also, the message to “march onward” serves as a powerful reminder that resilience is key to overcoming obstacles.
9 more poems about encouragement
#2 “The Dull Road” by Edgar A. Guest
It’s the dull road that leads to the gay road;
The practice that leads to success;
The work road that leads to the play road;
It is trouble that breeds happiness.
It’s the hard work and merciless grinding.
That purchases glory and fame;
It’s repeatedly doing, nor minding
The drudgery drear of the game.
It’s the passing up glamor or pleasure
For the sake of the skill we may gain,
And in giving up comfort or leisure
For the joy that we hope to attain.
It’s the hard road of trying and learning,
Of toiling, uncheered and alone,
That wins us the prizes worth earning,
And leads us to goals we would own.
#3 “Courage” by Edgar A. Guest
Courage isn’t a brilliant dash,
A daring deed in a moment’s flash;
It isn’t an instantaneous thing
Born of despair with a sudden spring
It isn’t a creature of flickered hope
Or the final tug at a slipping rope;
But it’s something deep in the soul of man
That is working always to serve some plan.
Courage isn’t the last resort
In the work of life or the game of sport;
It isn’t a thing that a man can call
At some future time when he’s apt to fall;
If he hasn’t it now, he will have it not
When the strain is great and the pace is hot.
For who would strive for a distant goal
Must always have courage within his soul.
Courage isn’t a dazzling light
That flashes and passes away from sight;
It’s a slow, unwavering, ingrained trait
With the patience to work and the strength to wait.
It’s part of a man when his skies are blue,
It’s part of him when he has work to do.
The brave man never is freed of it.
He has it when there is no need of it.
Courage was never designed for show;
It isn’t a thing that can come and go;
It’s written in victory and defeat
And every trial a man may meet.
It’s part of his hours, his days and his years,
Back of his smiles and behind his tears.
Courage is more than a daring deed:
It’s the breath of life and a strong man’s creed.
#4 “To Mary” by Eaglestone
Life is short, life is fleeting,
Earnest work have we to do,
Evermore to keep repeating,
Holy deeds divine and true.
Never, Mary, let us falter
In our journey to the skies,
Keeping all upon the Altar,
For Faith our priest to sacrifice.
Life is short, life is fleeting,
Changing care we both shall have,
F’er we see, and hear the greeting,
Of our Lord beyond the grave.
Never, Mary, let us falter
In our journey to the skies;
Keeping all upon the Altar,
For Faith our priest to sacrifice.
#5 “Dare and Do” by Eaglestone
To do and dare,
Be this thy care,
Though every path be haunted;
So dare and do
Whate’er is true,
E’en though thy heart be taunted
By many a fear
And prospect drear,
And many a thorn be planted.
Yes, do and dare,
And thou shalt wear
Full blooming joy’s supernal;
So dare and do,
And over you
Shall beam the skies diurnal,
Till up from this
You rise to bliss
Unclouded and eternal.
#6 “Do Your Best” by Anonymous
Do your best, your very best,
And do it every day,
Little boys and little girls:
That is the wisest way.
Whatever work comes to your hand,
At home, or at your school,
Do your best with right good will;
It is a golden rule.
Still do your best, if but at taw
You join the merry ring;
Or if you play at battledoor;
Or if you skip, or swing.
Or if you write your copy-book,
Or if you read or spell,
Or if you seam, or hem, or knit,
Be sure you do it well.
For he who always does his best,
His best will better grow;
But he who shirks or slights his task,
He lets the better go.
What if your lessons should be hard?
You need not yield to sorrow;
For he who bravely works to-day,
His tasks grow light to-morrow.
#7 “Encouragements to a Lover” by Sir John Suckling
Why so pale and wan, fond lover?
Prythee, why so pale?
Will, if looking well can’t move her,
Looking ill prevail?
Prythee, why so pale?
Why so dull and mute, young sinner?
Prythee, why so mute?
Will, when speaking well can’t win her,
Saying nothing do’t?
Prythee, why so mute?
Quit, quit, for shame! this will not move,
This cannot take her;
If of herself she will not love,
Nothing can make her:
The Devil take her!
#8 “The Builders” by H. W. Longfellow
All are architects of Fate,
Working in these walls of Time;
Some with massive deeds and great,
Some with ornaments of rhyme.
Nothing useless is, or low;
Each thing in its place is best;
And what seems but idle show
Strengthens and supports the rest.
For the structure that we raise,
Time is with materials filled:
Our to-days and yesterdays
Are the blocks with which we build.
Truly shape and fashion these;
Leave no yawning gaps between:
Think not, because no man sees,
Such things will remain unseen.
In the elder days of Art
Builders wrought with greatest care
Each minute and unseen part;
For the gods see everywhere.
Let us do our work as well,
Both the unseen and the seen,
Make the house, where Gods may dwell.
Beautiful, entire, and clean.
Else our lives are incomplete,
Standing in these walls of Time,
Broken stairways, where the feet
Stumble as they seek to climb.
Build to-day, then, strong and sure,
With a firm and ample base;
And ascending and secure.
Shall to-morrow find its place.
Thus alone can we attain
To those turrets, where the eye
Sees the world as one vast plain,
And one boundless reach of sky.
#9 “Persistence” by Walter Savage Landor
My hopes retire; my wishes as before
Struggle to find their resting-place in vain:
The ebbing sea thus beats against the shore;
The shore repels it; it returns again.
#10 From “A Poor Scholar, Or My Own Difficulties” by William Telford
By the sweat of your brow, you must earn your
own bread
Want of learning was one, and hard work was the
other,
That strove the young flame in my head thus to smother;
Forsooth , all their striving was greatly in vain,
Lest they cut off my head, or else scooped out my
brain.
So I rhymed without grammar in byre and in field,
My neighbors oft called me a wonderful chield;
And oft at our work for a laugh and a jest,
They would give me some words, my young genius
to test.
I would then scratch my head, and in two minutes
time,
Just give them their answer instanter in rhyme ;
I used not a pen , nor a pencil of lead,
But I carried my manuscript all in my head .
When I saw the black snail with its two pointed
horns,
Or heard the blythe black -bird sing up on the
thorus;
As I watched the cruel boys, killing bees for their
honey,
Every one got a verse, very simple, but funny.
In our own house at night, when I cleaned out my
bicker,
When my bones got a rest –0 , my muse , it went
quicker,
If my brothers or sisters said ought unto me,
How they laughed, when their answer in rhyme I
did gie.