Let me but do my work from day to day,
In field or forest, at the desk or loom,
In roaring market-place or tranquil room;
Let me but find it in my heart to say,
When vagrant wishes beckon me astray,
"This is my work; my blessing, not my doom;
"Of all who live, I am the one by whom
"This work can best be done in the right way."
Then shall I see it not too great, nor small,
To suit my spirit and to prove my powers;
Then shall I cheerful greet the labouring hours,
And cheerful turn, when the long shadows fall
At eventide, to play and love and rest,
Because I know for me my work is best.
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Comments
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From guest Joan mc Mahon (contact)
I used recite this poem twice weekly in my primary school Always remembered the words but today I could only recite the 1st verse I'm going to write it in my diary. lovely and it always seems to tell a story -
About this poem
From guest Barbara Forgione (contact)
Like others who commented, I learned this poem by heart in grammar school, decades ago. My teacher was enthusiastic about it, and it rang true to me. Sometimes we humans get tired and discouraged, and this type of poem, simple in thought and style, can inspire and revive our spirits. -
From guest Taylor (contact)
This is a correction to my last comment. The last sentence should read "It's just another standard sonnet about a moral spouted by every parent." -
From guest Taylor (contact)
Personally, I do not really like this poem. Van Dyke made no new discovery. He introduced no new idea. He did not expose a hidden meaning behind life. He simply put an unoriginal, widely accepted moral into a preset formula of a sonnet. He did not have a lot of original creativity in this poem. its just another standard sonnet about a moral spouted by every paret. -
From guest Joanne (contact)
Whenever I complained about having to mark papers or do lesson plans, my father would recite this poem, with grand gestures and vocal inflections. He frequently recited poems he had learned in school. O owe my love of poetry to him. -
From guest aliesha (contact)
I love this poe, I learned it my school, it suits me so well, its like it was made for me. -
I have a book written by hugh black titled Work and on the first page is a poem titled Work by henry van dyke hand written and signed can anyone tell me about this
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I had to memorize the poem in seventh grade, 67 years ago. I remembered it all except I could not remember if the last couplet had "Play, and love and rest," or "Pray, and love and rest." I could not find the poem in any anthology, but was going to use it in my column for the Paintsville Herald, EDUCATION AND COMMON SENSE.(Paintsville, KY-www.paintsvilleherald.com) I am happy to say that all the rest of the poem was remembered correctly. Thank you. June Rice
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