Poems about struggling delve into the challenges, hardships, and conflicts that define the human experience. These verses artfully express the complexities of adversity, whether it be emotional, physical, or societal.
Poets use powerful language to convey the emotions of pain, frustration, and vulnerability experienced in difficult times. These poems often capture the feeling of being trapped or overwhelmed through evocative imagery.
They may also offer glimpses of hope, resilience, and the determination to persevere in adversity. Poems about struggling resonate with readers who find comfort and understanding in shared human struggles.
Gunn’s ‘The Man with Night Sweats’ contrasts past vitality with present fragility, capturing the intimate pain of AIDS.
In Gunn’s poem ‘The Man with Night Sweats,’ readers can find an ill speaker struggling to cope with night sweats, a medical condition in which a person goes through episodes of heavy sweating in their sleep.
Lowell’s ‘Night Sweat’ portrays his struggle with writer’s block and profound distress, finding solace in his wife’s comforting presence.
At the beginning of the poem, the reference to the “equipment” hints at two ideas: one is the pen and another is the speaker’s body. His struggle to express his thoughts in words, as well as, to recover from his mental illness is described in the first half.
Work-table, litter, books and standing lamp,
plain things, my stalled equipment, the old broom---
Maya Angelou’s ‘Momma Welfare Roll’ vividly portrays resilience and defiance amid societal judgment, navigating poverty with unwavering agency.
'Momma Welfare Roll' vividly depicts the woman's struggles with poverty and societal judgment. Descriptive imagery, like "fat triangles" and "lima beans," illustrates the physical toll of hardship. The cyclic repetition of societal condemnation adds to the portrayal of enduring struggles. The poem provides a poignant exploration of the challenges individuals face in navigating societal biases and economic difficulties.
Elinor Wylie’s ‘Now Let No Charitable Hope’ contrasts nature’s liberty with human limits, showing a woman’s resilience.
The poem addresses the topic of struggle through the description of the speaker’s tireless attempts to get some food from a stone. This vivid metaphor shows that people are struggling for food and satisfaction in a very unfriendly environment all the time. The speaker’s goal to survive despite the lack of resources and constant suffering emphasizes the cyclical and chronic nature of the fight.
’39’ is a poem in which the narrator looks back on his life while eagerly awaiting his fortieth birthday and the years that will follow.
When the narrator discusses the decades of his life, the teen years and the years of his thirties seem to have been marked out by struggles. The teens were hard, with a lot of work that left the narrator feeling as though he was being smothered, but he claims that the thirties were even worse. The narrator does not explain exactly why the thirties were bad, but he seems to think that there was an element of fate to his struggles. Even the twenties, the decade when he was happy, were filled with fighting, which suggests that they had their own struggles.
‘Leave him now Quiet by the Way’ by Trumbull Stickney is a complex poem that imparts a deeply devastating revelation about another man’s despair.
A vivid aspect of the poem is Stickney's portrayal of a man who has succumbed to the struggle of life. His dejected and paralyzed state is familiar to anyone who has attempted to overcome adversity only to fail. It is from this struggle that the speaker is now trying to rest and recover from.
‘Those Annual Bills’ by Mark Twain is a humorously bleak poem that bemoans the insufferable and unsatiated onslaught of bills the speaker is confronted with each year.
A topic that the poem explores is the struggle that's caused by the speaker's bills. The poem is rather ambiguous about the reason these bills are so laborious for the speaker, apart from the fact that they are a persistent annoyance. But it might also be inferred that they're struggling to pay those debts because of financial difficulties.
‘The Lady Sings the Blues’ by Terrance Hayes explores a woman’s journey, balancing dreams and resilience in a rapidly changing world.
The woman in the poem embodies struggle, facing the pressures of urbanization while clinging to her simple dreams. Her walk among idle trains and industry reflects the tension between her desires and the harsh realities surrounding her. This theme resonates with anyone who has felt caught between what they need and what the world demands.
‘Thrushes’ by Ted Hughes depicts predatory birds with precision likened to steel, embodying primal instinct and efficiency in their actions.
Struggling is seen through the poem representation of the relentless pursuit of survival in nature. The poem vividly depicts the challenges faced by both predator and prey, highlighting the struggles inherent in the natural world. It underscores the resilience and adaptability required to overcome adversity, offering insight into the universal experience of grappling with obstacles and hardships in life.
Terrifying are the attent sleek thrushes on the lawn, More coiled steel than living - a poised Dark deadly eye, those delicate legs Triggered to stirrings beyond sense - with a start, a bounce,
‘At the Bus Station’ by Julius Chingono offers advice on how to survive the selfish pandemonium of a bus commute.
At the center of Chingono's poem is a struggle to get on the bus. To do so, the speaker tells us, you must endure numerous aggressions before you can make it on. But this isn't the only struggle in the poem. There's also the struggle against humanity's selfish inclinations which drive us to forsake the people around us and clamor desperately for a spot on the bus.
Sonnet 29, ‘When, in disgrace with fortune and men’s eyes’ by William Shakespeare explores emotions of self-doubt, envy, despair, and the power of love.
The speaker in the sonnet is struggling to do anything in his life as he is unwealthy, unsuccessful, lacks political influence, and is seemingly outcasted. He expresses his depressing state poignantly, moving the readers as humans always get stuck in such struggles. He frequently struggles with a dark mental state as the thoughts of struggles trouble him, leading to self-hate and cursing.
‘Infant Sorrow’ by Blake contrasts ‘Infant Joy’ by depicting birth’s pain and the struggle of life’s beginning.
An essential theme of the poem is the struggle, as it illustrates the infant’s ongoing fight against the restricting swaddling bands. This struggle is a life struggle of struggling and overcoming challenges and hardships from the time one is born.
In ‘The Rowing Endeth,’ Anne Sexton reminds us that life’s challenges, though unpredictable, hold moments of unexpected joy.
Struggling emerges as a core theme, depicted in the speaker’s attempts to make sense of life’s unpredictability. The tension between the speaker’s efforts to win and the divine dealer’s wild cards highlights the frustration of navigating challenges beyond one’s control. The poem resonates with anyone who has faced hardship, offering both empathy and insight into resilience.
‘What is Evidence’ by Natasha Trethewey delves into trauma and identity, depicting the body as the ultimate testament to lived experience.
'What is Evidence' explores the theme of struggle through vivid imagery of physical and emotional challenges. References to bruises, broken bones, and attempts to conceal them symbolize the ongoing battle against adversity. The poem delves into the resilience required to navigate life's hardships, highlighting the internal and external struggles faced by individuals in their quest for acceptance and resilience.
‘Journey of the Magi’ shows the Magi’s transformative spiritual journey as he grapples with a new spiritual reality.
'Journey of the Magi' represents a mentally arduous and physically challenging journey toward Bethlehem, which Magi undertakes to see Jesus. With its evocative language, the poem captures Magi's struggles, doubts, and discomforts as he completes his journey and attains spiritual rebirth symbolizing the struggle of a journey towards spiritual transformation.
Our Poem Guides, PDFs, Study Tools, and Articles are created by a team of qualified poetry experts to provide an unparalleled in-depth look into poetry.
