Analysis of Success
You ask me what I call Success -
It is, I wonder, Happiness?
It is not wealth, it is not fame,
Nor rank, nor power nor honoured name.
It is not triumph in the Arts -
Best-selling books or leading parts.
It is not plaudits of the crowd,
The flame of flags, processions proud.
The panegyrics of the Press
are but the mirage of Success.
You may have all of them, my friend,
Yet be a failure in the end.
I've know proud Presidents of banks
Who've fought their way up from the ranks,
And party leaders of renown
Who played as boys in Shantytown.
Strong, self-made men, yet seek to trace
Benignity in any face;
Grim purpose, mastery maybe,
Yet never sweet serenity;
Never contentment, thoughts that bless -
That mellow joy I deem Success.
The haply seek some humble hearth,
Quite poor in goods yet rich in mirth,
And see a man of common clay
Watching his little ones at play;
A laughing fellow full of cheer,
Health, strength and faith that mocks at fear;
Who for his happiness relies
On joys he lights in other eyes;
He loves his home and envies none. . . .
Who happier beneath the sun?
Aye, though he walk in lowly ways,
Shining Success has crowned his days.
Scheme | AX BBCCDDAAEE FFGGHHIIAA XXJJKKLLMM NN |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11111101 11110100 11111111 11110111 11110001 11011101 11110101 01110101 01101 11001101 11111111 11010001 1111011 01111101 01010101 1111010 11111111 10101 11010010 11010100 10010111 11011101 0111101 11011101 01011101 10110111 01010111 11011111 11110001 11110101 1111011 11000101 11110101 10011111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,129 |
Words | 216 |
Sentences | 15 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 2, 10, 10, 10, 2 |
Lines Amount | 34 |
Letters per line (avg) | 26 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 178 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 43 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 05, 2023
- 1:05 min read
- 277 Views
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"Success" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/32456/success>.
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