Don't Quit

Everyone remembers things about their childhood that stood out as interesting or important. When I was younger I had a lot of moments like that. The first time I traveled outside of the U.S and my first day of middle school. When I first rode a bike, when I learned to swim, and when I went to Las Vegas for a family reunion. The most important parts of me that shaped me became memories I could look back on and smile about. As a kid something I loved was history and I used to live with my aunt. On her door, every day I walked by it I looked at a poem taped on it. That poem is a part of history, of my history, and the history of the person who writes it. It's the most inspirational poem I've ever read. I memorized it and carry it as a memory today. The poem is called "Don't Quit" and some people credit the author Edgar A. Guest as the author but others believe it to be John G. Whittier.

Edgar A. Guest was actually born in Britain. His family migrated to Detroit in 1891 when he was 10 years old. He started working at the Detroit Press when he was just a little bit older. When his father died he left school to take care of his family and worked at the press full time. He wrote on current events, poetry, and in a weekly column offering advice. Guest later married and became an author writing books as well. In 1931 he started broadcasting on NBC radio and showed up on TV. This continued until 1941 where he had also continued writing poetry. He was known as a writer who related best to the people because he spoke most about everyday life. He later died on August 5, 1959.

https://poets.org/poet/edgar-guest

John Greenleaf Whittier was born in Massachusetts in 1807. He grew with poor a upbringing in a Quaker household. Inspiration at a young age came from another poet named Robert Burns and the folklore that surrounded the area of Massachusetts. When he was 22 years old he took a job at The American Manufacturer which was a Boston newspaper writing about politics and argumentation. He published a book of poetry, but it had not taken off as he had hoped and so he retired due to illness in 1831.

In 1833 his friend Garrison encouraged him to use his writing to speak out against slavery at the time. He joined the motion and started publishing pamphlets to get to audiences. He slowly gained following in his state and joined his state legislature when he got more to join his movement. Then on he moved around a lot writing at different newspaper establishments to get the message and word out. At some point, he did try his hand at poetry again and its focus was abolitionism and politics. Whittier continued his writing of poetry and pamphlets supporting the cause and died in 1892.

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/john-greenleaf-whittier

This poem has inspired me for many different reasons. Every person has hard parts about their life and you look for something you can relate to. Even now as we slowly move through Covid and work together to build back up in different countries we're still not done. The first stanza reminds you that things can go wrong, something can happen, everything can fall apart but you as a person shouldn't just stop. Keep doing what you're doing because at the end of the tunnel is a light. The light to freedom, to moving on, to letting go, to moving forward, and to getting up. Take a breather and rest for a second but don't just stop because you got this.

The second stanza tells you about the weird wiles of life that can happen. You can have some problems along the way, that's pretty common. Nobody's perfect and failing is actually you learning how not to do something. Failure has always been looked at as negative, but for people to succeed you have to fail time and again. When you do fail don't just give up on the first try. T. H. Palmer once said, "Try, try again". If you have the right support and audience you can do what you put your mind to.

Stanza 3 gives heed to the failure that you're going to face and how to approach it. You don't know when you'll succeed, just maybe one day you'll look up and have done the thing you wanted. Since you don't know when that will happen don't just quit because you've tried so many times. That peak could be right around the corner and you'll never know just by quitting and giving up. It's easier said than done, but with all the work you've already put in you might as well continue until you win.

The last stanza is actually not included in most versions. Some versions have it and that's what makes it so unique. It drives the point home about not quitting and keep going. Everyone's racing toward a goal that they want to face and overcome. Most people don't make it because they didn't have the spirit, determination, and perseverance to finish what they started. The last thing anyone wants to do is think back and regret anything in their lives. Regret leaves a want in your life that you sometimes can't feel because you missed the opportunity. So while you have the chance to do what you want, start doing it right now because regret, later on, can almost be as bad as guilt.