Had I Not This, or This, I Said
poem 904
Had I Not This, or This, I Said - meaning Summary
Need and Self-reliance
The poem considers how need and selfhood persist across fortune and misfortune. Speaking to herself, the speaker explores that having possessions in prosperity does not make life complete, nor does lacking them in reverse erase the self. Need remains even when satisfied, and effort sharpens according to circumstance. Yet striving to reclaim lost ground can weaken forward progress. The poem frames desire, work, and the paradox of effort under changing conditions.
Read Complete AnalysesHad I not This, or This, I said, Appealing to Myself, In moment of prosperity Inadequate were Life Thou hast not Me, nor Me it said, In Moment of Reverse And yet Thou art industrious No need hadst Thou of us? My need was all I had I said The need did not reduce Because the food exterminate The hunger does not cease But diligence is sharper Proportioned to the Chance To feed upon the Retrograde Enfeebles the Advance
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