Effort
Edgar Albert Guest
About The Author
After he began at the Detroit Free Press as a copy boy and then a reporter, his first poem appeared 11 December 1898. He became a naturalized citizen in 1902.
For 40 years, Guest was widely read throughout North America, and his sentimental, optimistic poems were in the same vein as the light verse of Nick Kenny, who wrote syndicated columns during the same decades.
From his first published work in the Detroit Free Press until his death in 1959, Guest penned some 11,000 poems which were syndicated in some 300 newspapers and collected in more than 20 books, including A Heap o' Livin' (1916) and Just Folks (1923–1957). Guest was made Poet Laureate of Michigan, the only poet to have been awarded the title.
About The Poem
Failures are part of life. Success doesn't come easy. It is not necessary that you always succeed, but after each failure how much you toil to succeed is what life is all about. Gradually with one's effort a person learns the art to succeed.. The effort you are making means a whole lot more.
Effort
by: Edgar Albert Guest
He brought me his report card from the teacher and he said
He wasn't very proud of it and sadly bowed his head.
He was excellent in reading, but arithmetic, was fair,
And I noticed there were several "unsatisfactorys" there;
But one little bit of credit which was given brought me joy—
He was "excellent in effort," and I fairly hugged the boy.
"Oh, it doesn't make much difference what is written on your card,"
I told that little fellow, "if you're only trying hard.
The 'very goods' and 'excellents' are fine, I must agree,
But the effort you are making means a whole lot more to me;
And the thing that's most important when this card is put aside
Is to know, in spite of failure, that to do your best you've tried.
"Just keep excellent in effort—all the rest will come to you.
There isn't any problem but some day you'll learn to do,
And at last, when you grow older, you will come to understand
That by hard and patient toiling men have risen to command
And some day you will discover when a greater goal's at stake
That better far than brilliance is the effort you will make."
लगन
Transcreated by
'Ambar' Kharbanda
अपना रिपोर्ट-कार्ड वो बच्चा जब अपने टीचर से लाया
उसके मुँह पर मैंने देखा एक उदासी की थी छाया
अपने अन्दर की उलझन से थोडा-सा था टूटा-टूटा
आकर मेरे पास वो बैठा कुछ घबराया, कुछ सकुचाया
पढने में तो ठीक-ठाक था लेकिन कुछ विषयों में कच्चा
झुका के अपने सर को न जाने सोच रहा था क्या वो बच्चा
लेकिन उसके टीचर ने इक बड़े काम की बात लिखी थी
वो अपनी मेहनत में खरा था, अपनी कोशिश में था सच्चा
अपनी कमज़ोरी पर कुछ-कुछ शर्मिंदा-सा जब वो आया
उसको अपने पास बुला कर मैंने उसको गले लगाया
अपना पूरा ध्यान लगा कर जितनी मेहनत तुम करते हो
यही बात है बड़े काम की उसको फिर ऐसे समझाया
ये तो सच है रिपोर्ट-कार्ड में सब कुछ अच्छा नहीं लिखा है
लेकिन इसमें भी तो शायद कुछ-कुछ अच्छा छुपा हुआ है
मुश्किल हों हालात मगर जो कोशिश करते ही रहते हैं
वो सब कुछ ही पा जाते हैं, ये भी हमने सुना हुआ है
छोटी-मोटी नाकामी से घबरा जाना ठीक नहीं है
जब तुम हो जाओगे थोड़े बड़े तो तुम ये भी समझोगे
तुम धीरज से और लगन से अपना काम किए जाओ तो
इक दिन मेरे बच्चे! तुम ये दुनिया मुट्ठी में कर लोगे