TRYING, trying -- always trying -- Falling down to save a fall; Living by the dint of dying, -- This is all! Giving, giving -- always giving -- Gathering just abroad to cast; Dying by the dint of living At the last! Sighing, smiling -- smiling, sighing -- Sun in shade, and shade in sun; Dying, living -- living, dying -- Both in one! Hoping in our very fearing, Striving hard against our strife; Drifting in the stead of steering, -- This is life! Seeming to believe in seeming, Half disproving, to approve; Knowing that we dream, in dreaming, -- This is love! Being in our weakness stronger, -- Living where there is no breath; Feeling harm can harm no longer, -- This is death. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...UNDER THE SHADE OF THE TREES [MAY 10, 1863] by MARGARET JUNKIN PRESTON PEARLS OF THE FAITH: 44. ALLAH-AL-RAKIB by EDWIN ARNOLD THE DAY by MARGARET ESTELLA BIGHAM BEING A MOTHER by ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING THE FOUNTAIN by WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT IF THAT HIGH WORLD by GEORGE GORDON BYRON |