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Famous Hardships Poems by Famous Poets

These are examples of famous Hardships poems written by some of the greatest and most-well-known modern and classical poets. PoetrySoup is a great educational poetry resource of famous hardships poems. These examples illustrate what a famous hardships poem looks like and its form, scheme, or style (where appropriate).

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Book: Radiant Verses: A Journey Through Inspiring Poetry
...he time that Christ was born,
Therefore respect Christmas morn.

And let the rich be kind to the poor,
And think of the hardships they do endure,
Who are neither clothed nor fed,
And Many without a blanket to their bed....Read more of this...
by McGonagall, William Topaz



...e, McEachern, in the midst of danger and strife;
And I hope that all landsmen of low and high degree,
Will think of the hardships of poor mariners while at sea....Read more of this...
by McGonagall, William Topaz
...d his gallant little band,
While travelling through gloomy forests and devastated land,
And suffering from all kinds of hardships under a burning sun!
But the brave hero has been successful and the victory's won. 

While in Africa he saw many wonderful sights,
And was engaged, no doubt, in many savage fights,
But the wise Creator was with him all along 
And now he's home again to us, I hope quite strong. 

And during his travels in Africa he made strange discoveries,
He disco...Read more of this...
by McGonagall, William Topaz
..., all dangers, with a smile, 
Wise as Minerva, as Diana brave, 
Is she whom generous gods in kindness gave
To share the hardships of my wandering life, 
Companion, comrade, friend, my loved and loyal wife.



XXIX.
'The white chief weds but one. Take back thy maid.'
He ceased, and o'er Mahwissa's face a shade
Of mingled scorn and pity and surprise
Sweeps as she slow retreats, and thus replies: 
'Rich is the pale-faced chief in battle fame, 
But poor is he who but one wife may...Read more of this...
by Wilcox, Ella Wheeler
...fade; 
Pass and are gone, they fade—I dwell not on soldiers’ perils or soldiers’
 joys;
(Both I remember well—many the hardships, few the joys, yet I was content.) 

But in silence, in dreams’ projections, 
While the world of gain and appearance and mirth goes on, 
So soon what is over forgotten, and waves wash the imprints off the sand, 
In nature’s reverie sad, with hinged knees returning, I enter the doors—(while
 for
 you up
 there,
Whoever you are, follow me without noi...Read more of this...
by Whitman, Walt



...in England 
However poor you roam! 
For no men are your betters 
Who never sailed from home! 

From a hundred years of hardships – 
'Tis ours to tell the cost – 
From a thousand miles of silence 
Where London would be lost; 
From where the glorious sunset 
On sweeps of mulga glows – 
Ah! we know more than England, 
And more than Europe knows! 

Hold up your head in London, 
However poor you come, 
For no man is your better 
Who never sailed from home! 
Our "home" and foreign...Read more of this...
by Lawson, Henry
...able of Wit,
And only for the meanest Drudgeries fit:
Made Slaves to serve their Luxury and Pride,
And with innumerable Hardships try'd,
'Till Pitying Heav'n release us from our Pain,
Kind Heav'n to whom alone we dare complain.
Th' ill-natur'd World will no Compassion show;
Such as are wretched, it wou'd still have so:
It gratifies its Envy and its Spight;
The most in others Miseries take Delight.
While we are present they some Pity spare,
And feast us on a thin Repast of Air...Read more of this...
by Chudleigh, Lady Mary
...hey have never trod;
Especially while seated around the fireside on a cold winter night,
Let them think of the cold and hardships Greenland sailors have to fight....Read more of this...
by McGonagall, William Topaz
...this thing and that, 
As I had known him well a thousand years. 

Late in a wilderness 
I shared his mess, 
For he had hardships seen, 
And I a wanderer been; 
He was my bosom friend, and I was his. 

And as, methinks, shall all, 
Both great and small, 
That ever lived on earth, 
Early or late their birth, 
Stranger and foe, one day each other know....Read more of this...
by Thoreau, Henry David
...If I have eaten during the days of Ramazan, do not
believe I did it through inadvertence. The fatiguing
hardships of the fast have so turned about my days and
nights [the one for the other] that I have always believed
in eating the morning repast....Read more of this...
by Khayyam, Omar
...re suffering the obstacles of poverty and the sharpness of misery and the emptiness of separation. I shall attack these hardships until I triumph and place in your hands a strength that will help over all things to complete the journey of life. 

"Love - which is God - will consider our sighs and tears as incense burned at His altar and He will reward us with fortitude. Good-bye, my beloved; I must leave before the heartening moon vanishes." 

A pure voice, combined of the co...Read more of this...
by Gibran, Kahlil
...these waters he had come 
To gather leeches, being old and poor: 
Employment hazardous and wearisome! 
And he had many hardships to endure: 
From pond to pond he roamed, from moor to moor; 
Housing, with God's good help, by choice or chance, 
And in this way he gained an honest maintenance. 

XVI 

The old Man still stood talking by my side; 
But now his voice to me was like a stream 
Scarce heard; nor word from word could I divide; 
And the whole body of the Man did seem 
L...Read more of this...
by Wordsworth, William
...these waters he had come 
To gather leeches, being old and poor: 
Employment hazardous and wearisome! 
And he had many hardships to endure: 
From pond to pond he roamed, from moor to moor; 
Housing, with God's good help, by choice or chance, 
And in this way he gained an honest maintenance. 

XVI 

The old Man still stood talking by my side; 
But now his voice to me was like a stream 
Scarce heard; nor word from word could I divide; 
And the whole body of the Man did seem 
L...Read more of this...
by Wordsworth, William
...mber my banishment. 

And at night at the fireside with Nora,
I will tell her of my limbs being bound,
And all my great hardships endured,
And how I was lash'd like a hound. 

And when my story is ended,
Nora will sympathise with her tears,
Which will help to drown my sorrow,
And help me through coming years....Read more of this...
by McGonagall, William Topaz
...treet waifs is rather cold.
But I hope the match girl's in Heaven, beside her Saviour dear,
A bright reward for all the hardships she suffered here....Read more of this...
by McGonagall, William Topaz
...use they were ankle deep in mud in the Queen's Park,
Which proved to the Queen they were loyal and true,
To ensure such hardships at the Royal Review. 

Oh! it was a most beautiful scene
To see the Forfarshire Artillery matching past the Queen:
Her Majesty with their steady marching felt content,
Especially when their arms to her they did present. 

And the Inverness Highland Volunteers seemed verygran',
And marched by steady to a man
Amongst the mud without dismay,
And the r...Read more of this...
by McGonagall, William Topaz
...s all run God knows where;
There are lives that are erring and aimless,
 And deaths that just hang by a hair;
There are hardships that nobody reckons;
 There are valleys unpeopled and still;
There's a land -- oh, it beckons and beckons,
 And I want to go back -- and I will.

They're making my money diminish;
 I'm sick of the taste of champagne.
Thank God! when I'm skinned to a finish
 I'll pike to the Yukon again.
I'll fight -- and you bet it's no sham-fight;
 It's hell! -- b...Read more of this...
by Service, Robert William
...d they see on the horizon;
And they constructed a sea anchor to keep the boat's head to sea,
And not withstanding their hardships they stood out bravely. 

And on the 19th of March a ship hove in sight,
Which proved to be the "Slieve Roe" to their delight;
Then they hoisted a signal of distress when they espied the "Slieve Roe,"
But it was not seen on account of the wreck being in the water so low. 

But as soon as Captain McMullan knew it was a signal of distress,
Then heroi...Read more of this...
by McGonagall, William Topaz

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Book: Radiant Verses: A Journey Through Inspiring Poetry