To One who Sighed by Ruth Collie
"To One who Sighed" is a brief consolatory verse in which the speaker addresses a despondent young woman troubled by her lack of artistic accomplishment. The poem opens with a series of pointed rhetorical questions—she cannot sing, cannot dance, cannot weave a play or write a work—acknowledging that others possess these particular talents while she does not. Rather than dwelling on this lack, the speaker pivots to enumerate the gifts she does have: she sews well, cooks expertly, sketches a little with pen and ink, and has a gift for making people laugh. The speaker catalogs these qualities almost as a rebuttal, building a case that the "sighing" woman is, in fact, richly gifted, simply not in the ways she had wished. The poem then shifts from enumeration to gentle rebuke and philosophical counsel. The speaker calls her "foolish" for fretting and sighing over not being like others, and introduces the central image of the piece: a plant of mignonette (a modest, fragrant garden flower) that would be absurd to wither away in grief simply because it was not born a star. This comparison crystallizes the poem's argument—that longing to be something categorically different from one's nature is a misdirection of spirit, and that every being, however humble, has its own proper form of radiance or usefulness. From this image the poem moves to direct exhortation. The speaker urges the woman to "be what you are" with pride, to accept her limitations with good grace, and to recognize that the world's variety and breadth means there is a fitting place for everyone within it. The poem closes on a note of purposeful contentment: she is encouraged to remain content within her own sphere, to take pride in work that is authentically her own, and to contribute her portion—her "mite of tone"—to what the poem figures as life's larger "complex instrument," an image of the world as a kind of orchestra or harmonium to which every individual, however minor their part, adds a necessary note. Thematically, the poem functions as a piece of comforting, moralizing occasional verse in the vein of popular sentimental poetry of its era, addressing the anxiety of comparison—particularly as it might afflict a young woman measuring herself against more conventionally "accomplished" peers. Its argument is one of vocational humility and self-acceptance: worth is not measured by possessing a fixed, admired set of talents (singing, dancing, writing), but by cultivating and taking pride in whatever practical or modest gifts one actually has, however unglamorous—cooking, sewing, a knack for humor. The mignonette-versus-star metaphor is the poem's rhetorical hinge, transforming an abstract lesson about self-comparison into a concrete, natural image: it would be foolish for a modest, sweet-smelling flower to grieve that it is not a star, since each has its own kind of beauty and use. The closing musical metaphor reinforces the same idea in a different register, casting the individual as one instrument or voice within a vast, varied ensemble, whose duty is not to replicate another's part but to play its own note faithfully and with sweetness.
By Ruth Collie · First published 1928 · Genre: Inspirational Poetry, Lyric Poetry, Didactic Poetry · 234 words
First lines
You cannot sing? Well, others can. You do not dance? but others do. / And ever since the world began there have been certain folk like you / who cannot dance, and cannot sing, nor weave a play nor write a book. / But you can sew? Most anything? And are quite expert as a cook? / And you can draw a little bit, amuse your friends with pen and ink? / You make folk laugh -- this you admit. You have a lot of gifts, I / think. Oh, foolish one, to sigh and fret because you're not as some / folk are. Suppose a plant of mignonette withered because 'twas not a / star! Be what you are, dear girl, with pride. Accept your limits / with good grace; the world is varied, very wide; for each of us there / is a place. Within your sphere be quite content, be proud of work / that is your own, and to life's complex instrument with sweetness add / your mite of tone.
Genres
- Inspirational Poetry — The poem's primary purpose is to encourage and uplift the reader, offering reassurance and motivation to embrace their own talents and accept their limitations with pride.
- Lyric Poetry — The work expresses personal emotion and sentiment through an intimate, direct address to an individual, focusing on feelings of self-doubt and acceptance rather than narrative progression.
- Didactic Poetry — The poem explicitly teaches a moral lesson about self-acceptance, the value of different contributions, and finding one's place in society through reasoned argument and example.
- Philosophical Poetry — The work explores fundamental questions about human worth, the nature of talent, societal roles, and the interconnectedness of individuals within a complex world.
Tags
inspirational · poetry · devotional · encouragement · hopeful · spiritual · consolatory · motivational · accessible · verse · rhyming-verse · self-worth
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To One who Sighed is listed on Textopian as a poem by Ruth Collie, dated 1928 CE.
This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.
- Work type: Poem
- Author: Ruth Collie
- Date: 1928 CE
- Language: English
- Genres: Inspirational Poetry, Lyric Poetry, Didactic Poetry, Philosophical Poetry, Narrative Poetry
- Length: 234 words
- Structure: 1 section, 1 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Very Easy (5th Grade or below)
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