The Pledge Made Good
there is a pledge we take
not with a handful of sounds
to praise a handful of cloth
bawled among indifferent strangers
for witness of one’s submission
to the judgment of some state
not on worn and soiled knees
to praise worn and soiled ikons
whispered among flickering candles
for witness of one’s submission
to the judgment of some spirit
not oaths to government, odes to god
nor to any ruler of body or soul
but the pledge of the soul to itself
and what makes good the pledge?
to hold an uncorrupted vision
of what the ideal world can be
and if not born into that world
at least know such a world exists
and become its citizen in spirit
and so to stand unreluctant
lift my eyes to see the highest
not hold a stillborn aspiration
whine of a world I never made
and never let fear bar my way
but walk serene with upraised head
and steady gaze toward the vision
of the joy that I can know on earth
Font size:
Submitted on May 01, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 51 sec read
- 1 View
Quick analysis:
Scheme | x axxBc xaxBd xxx x bxxxd cxbxx xbx |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 872 |
Words | 173 |
Stanzas | 8 |
Stanza Lengths | 1, 5, 5, 3, 1, 5, 5, 3 |
Translation
Find a translation for this poem in other languages:
Select another language:
- - Select -
- 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
- 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
- Español (Spanish)
- Esperanto (Esperanto)
- 日本語 (Japanese)
- Português (Portuguese)
- Deutsch (German)
- العربية (Arabic)
- Français (French)
- Русский (Russian)
- ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
- 한국어 (Korean)
- עברית (Hebrew)
- Gaeilge (Irish)
- Українська (Ukrainian)
- اردو (Urdu)
- Magyar (Hungarian)
- मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
- Indonesia (Indonesian)
- Italiano (Italian)
- தமிழ் (Tamil)
- Türkçe (Turkish)
- తెలుగు (Telugu)
- ภาษาไทย (Thai)
- Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
- Čeština (Czech)
- Polski (Polish)
- Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
- Românește (Romanian)
- Nederlands (Dutch)
- Ελληνικά (Greek)
- Latinum (Latin)
- Svenska (Swedish)
- Dansk (Danish)
- Suomi (Finnish)
- فارسی (Persian)
- ייִדיש (Yiddish)
- հայերեն (Armenian)
- Norsk (Norwegian)
- English (English)
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"The Pledge Made Good" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 12 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/87559/the-pledge-made-good>.
Discuss the poem The Pledge Made Good with the community...
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In