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Lyrics of Lowly Life

by Paul Laurence Dunbar

"Keep a-plugging Away"

Additional Information
  • Year Published: 1913
  • Language: English
  • Country of Origin: United States of America
  • Source: Dunbar, P.L. (1913). The Complete Poems of Paul Laurence Dunbar. New York: Dodd, Mead, and Company.
  • Readability:
    • Flesch–Kincaid Level: 6.5
  • Word Count: 263
  • Genre: Poetry
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I ‘ve a humble little motto
That is homely, though it ’s true,—
Keep a–pluggin’ away.
It’s a thing when I ‘ve an object
That I always try to do,—
Keep a–pluggin’ away.
When you ‘ve rising storms to quell,
When opposing waters swell,
It will never fail to tell,—
Keep a–pluggin’ away.

If the hills are high before
And the paths are hard to climb,
Keep a–pluggin’ away.
And remember that successes
Come to him who bides his time,—
Keep a–pluggin’ away.
From the greatest to the least,
None are from the rule released.
Be thou toiler, poet, priest,
Keep a–pluggin’ away.

Delve away beneath the surface,
There is treasure farther down,—
Keep a–pluggin’ away.
Let the rain come down in torrents,
Let the threat’ning heavens frown,
Keep a–pluggin’ away.
When the clouds have rolled away,
There will come a brighter day
All your labor to repay,—
Keep a–pluggin’ away.

There ‘ll be lots of sneers to swallow,
There ‘ll be lots of pain to bear,—
Keep a–pluggin’ away.
If you ‘ve got your eye on heaven,
Some bright day you ‘ll wake up there,—
Keep a–pluggin’ away.
Perseverance still is king;
Time its sure reward will bring;
Work and wait unwearying,—
Keep a–pluggin’ away.