Famous Poem

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s Something Left Undone is a reflective poem about the endless responsibilities and unfinished tasks people face in everyday life. Longfellow explores how, no matter how hard a person works, there always seems to be more left incomplete, creating a growing sense of pressure and exhaustion. Through personification, he describes unfinished work as something that constantly “waits” and refuses to disappear, while vivid imagery emphasizes how the burdens of yesterday make each new day feel heavier. The poem’s comparison of people to dwarfs holding up the sky highlights the overwhelming weight of responsibility, conveying the message that life often feels filled with endless duties that can test human strength and perseverance.

Featured Shared Story

No Stories yet, You can be the first!

Share your story! (0)

Famous Poem

Something Left Undone

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow By more Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Labor with what zeal we will,
    Something still remains undone,
Something uncompleted still
    Waits the rising of the sun.
By the bedside, on the stair,
    At the threshold, near the gates,
With its menace or its prayer,
    Like a mendicant it waits;
Waits, and will not go away;
    Waits, and will not be gainsaid;
By the cares of yesterday
    Each to-day is heavier made;
Till at length the burden seems
    Greater than our strength can bear,
Heavy as the weight of dreams,
    Pressing on us everywhere.
And we stand from day to day,
    Like the dwarfs of times gone by,
Who, as Northern legends say,
    On their shoulders held the sky.

Advertisement

more Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

  • Stories 0
  • Shares 1
  • Favorited 0
  • Votes 9
  • Rating 3.67

Back to Top