Self Reliance

Ralph Waldo Emerson 1803 (Boston) – 1882 (Concord)



HENCEFORTH, please God, forever I forego
The yoke of men's opinions. I will be
Light-hearted as a bird, and live with God.
I find him in the bottom of my heart,
I hear continually his voice therein.
horizontal dotted line
The little needle always knows the North,
The little bird remembereth his note,
And this wise Seer within me never errs.
I never taught it what it teaches me;
I only follow, when I act aright.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 28, 2023

23 sec read
509

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABCDEFGHIBC
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 412
Words 78
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 11

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Ralph Waldo Emerson was an American essayist, lecturer, and poet, who led the Transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century. more…

All Ralph Waldo Emerson poems | Ralph Waldo Emerson Books

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