Short Poems

14 Poems For Teenagers

Be encouraged by these poems for teenagers. The teen years are ones where we try and discover who and what we are. Always wanting to be accepted and recognized. While these years are very rewarding they can also be very challenging. Peer pressure, uncertainty about the future and more can have a negative impact on a teenager. Let these poems be ones that inspire, encourage, and set values for living life.

Short Poems / Poems Of Encouragement / Poems For Teenagers

Teenage Years
Poet: Catherine Pulsifer

Oh teenage years, I remember them so
There were happy days and days I felt so low
There were days life was a roller coaster ride
Back and forth like the ocean's tides.

Oh teenage years they were the best
We have fun even when there was a test
Most of the time we would study hard
But we made time for playing ball in the yard.

Oh teenage years I had many a worry
And life seemed slow, never in a hurry
Looking back I now realize
Many of my worries never materialize.

Being a teenager means growing up
Even drinking coffee in a cup
You will look back and find
The best days will be in your mind!

So don't take life to seriously
Appreciate friends and family
Set your goals and believe in you
And to yourself always stay true!

Don't Give Up
Poet: Unknown

Don't give up hope when you are down,
For you must fight to be a man;
Determination wins the crown,
So rise again and say, "I CAN!"

The wear and tear you get from life
Builds character ... as tempered steel;
The knocks you get that bring you strife
Are boosts that bring a squarer deal.

The changes that await for you
Are, too, the ones that I have faced,
So grit your teeth, you'll come on through,
And tarry not to be disgraced.

Heartbreaks and grief will come your way;
They're aftermaths of death and love.
But you can bravely face that day
If you believe in powers above.

Don't think that you're the only one
Who's been ordained to suffer so.
For there are others who must run
A race that's tougher . . . this I know.

Objectives that you have desired
To someday reach and linger there,
Must be ambitions that are fired
With manliness, rebuilt to wear.

The gutters and the bow'ry streets.
Where all day long the beggars chant,
Are good examples of defeats,
For these are men who've said, 'I CAN'T!"

The architect. , . the builder, too;
The dreamer who promotes the plan,
Are good examples of the few
That strived and won and said, "I CAN!"

If others can achieve an aim,
Though goings, now and then are tough —
You, too, can win at this great game,
Because you've got the selfsame stuff.

The Other Cheek
Poet: Unknown

Pretty irritations,
Clog the stream of life.
Causing much unhappiness
And a lot of strife.

To keep the life stream flowing
Free of wrath and hate.
When unkind words are spoken
Do not retaliate.

Holdfast!
Poet: Unknown

Just cling to your good thoughts and make them last,
They're dividend paying stocks;
So just grit your teeth and to Good, hold fast!
When it looks like you're on the rocks.

There was never a cloud could hide the sun
For more than a day or two;
So don't be so ready to quit and run,
When adversity comes to you.

It's the person who can keep his thoughts on Good
That wins, when the clouds have passed;
So shun the evil suggestions that would
Bring you nothing but grief — Hold Fast!

The Mender
Poet: Unknown

To you who ask: "'Tis Life Worth While?"
I'd gladly teach by showing
The way to wear a cheerful smile
As down Life's trail you're going,
To see the beauty through the muck,
That tears make smiles the sweeter,
To stop and aid the man who's stuck —
Should your foot be fleeter.

You'd find I know this simple plan
A means of better living,
That happiness rewards the man
Whose life is spent in giving,
That smiles shall be with smiles repaid,
That squallor bows to beauty.
And too, that life is better made
If faced as sacred duty.

To you who doubt the worth of life,
This sound advice I tender;
If you've betorn yourself with strife.
You too, can be the mender.

The Bright Side Out
Poet: George W. Davis

When you feel life but a burden.
When your way is overcast.
When the day is full of trials.
With new dangers thickening fast;
Think then of the lark a-singing
As she gaily soars about;
Sure enough she has her troubles.
Yet she keeps the bright side out.

All the world is full of sorrow,
Full of heartaches and of fears.
Full of lonesomeness and sadness.
Full of partings and of tears;
So it needs a something different,
That will put despair to rout;
That is why it hails the brother
Who will keep the bright side out.

Never mind the little setbacks,
Never mind the crushing blow,
Never mind about tomorrow —
Keep a-singing as you go.
Though your heart may have misgivings
Bravely hide away your doubt,
For you surely cheer some other
When you keep the bright side out.

Your Chance
Poet: Edwin Markham

To each one is given a marble to carve for the wall;
A stone that is needed to heighten the beauty of all;
And only his soul has the magic to give it grace;
And only his hands have the cunning to put it in place -
Yes, the task that is given to each one, no other can do; -
So the errand is waiting;
It has waited through ages for you.
And now you appear:
And the hushed ones are turning their gaze,
To see what you do with your chance in the chamber of days.

Let's Be Kind
Poet: Unknown

As we journey down the road,
Let us share each other's load,
Let's be kind.

We are comrades on the way,
Going whither none can say,
Long the night, but while it's day,
Let's be kind.

At its best the road is steep,
And a little cheer is cheap;
Pass it out, it helps a heap;
Let's be kind.

Two Kinds Of People
Poet: Ella Wheeler Wilcox

There are two kinds of people on earth today,
Just two kinds of people — no more I say,
Not the good and the bad, for 'tis well understood
The good are half bad and the bad half good,
Nor the rich and the poor, for to count a man's wealth
You must know how the state of his conscience, and health

No, the two kinds of people on earth that I mean
Are the people who lift, and the people who lean
Wherever you go, you will find the world's masses
Are divided in just these two classes.
And, oddly enough, you will find, I ween,
There is only one lifter to twenty who lean.

In which class are you? Are you easing the load
Of overtaxed lifters who toil down the road?

Or are you a leaner who lets others bear
Your portion of labor and worry and care?

Believe
Author Unknown

Believe that you can —
and you will not fail, though great be the task begun.

Believe that you can —
though hard the trail, and rugged the road you run.

Have faith in yourself.
Just know that you can and you're simply bound to do;
and never a barrier, bar or ban can keep you from carrying through.

Believe in yourself and then go in and work with your heart and soul.
Believe in yourself and you'll surely win, no matter how far your goal.
There's a marvelous force in the faith that springs from this great and noble thought;
by the magic spell of strength it brings the greatest of all deeds are wrought.

Believe in your soul that you will succeed.
For as sure as you hold this thought, you will back your faith with power of deed, 'till the last hard fight is fought!

Aye, hold to that thought and you'll do your part in the way that it should be done.
Just start with a winner's confident heart, and your battle is really won!

So go to it, and hit your stride, and never falter or turn aside 'til the whole long course is run.

You may not be brilliant, or clever, or smart; you may not be fast of pace,
but if you have grit and a confident heart you surely will win the race.

All Is Well
Poet: Arthur Hugh Clough

Whate'er you dream with doubt possessed,
Keep, keep it snug within your breast,
And lay you down and take your rest;
Forget in sleep the doubt and pain.
And when you wake, to work again.
The wind it blows, the vessel goes.

And where and whither, no one knows.
'Twill all be well: no need of care;
Though how it will, and when, and where,
We cannot see, and can't declare.
In spite of dreams, in spite of thought,
'Tis not in vain, and not for nought.
The wind blows, the ship it goes,
Though where and whither, no one knows.

The Other Fellow
Poet: Unknown

Through our eyes the other fellow
Oft appears as someone strange
Someone that we cannot fathom,
Someone we would like to change.
Something of ourselves we vision

When we look at other men,
Oft their faults are ours for mending,
By our quite superior ken.
Know then when we judge adversely
When our thoughts condemning roam,
That reform had best be started,
In ourselves and right at home

Yesterdays
Poet: Unknown

Our yesterdays, all of them gone;
What is left in their wake?
Give to yourself an honest response.
Just for your own sake.
Each Yesterday's dawn had dreams
Of accomplishments won.
Is its memory a rebuke,
Or praise for work well done?

All Tomorrows are Yesterdays
Not yet arrived.
Will Tommorrows' intentions
Be fulfilled or deprived?
There is only one method
To assure success.
Leave nothing to Fate
Or foolish human's guess.

Each Today we must feel
We have not another chance,
Every thought, word and deed
We must live to enhance;
For by living each Today
As though it were Tomorrow,
All Yesterdays to come
Will have naught to cause sorrow.

Unselfishness
by J. R. Miller

Unselfishness,
even in its smallest acts and manifestations,
costs some sacrifice.

Work for others which costs us nothing' is scarcely worth doing.
It takes heart blood to heal hearts.

It is those who sow in tears that shall reap in joy.

Take easy work if, you will, work that costs nothing;
give only what you will not miss;
spare yourself from self-denial and waste and sacrifice;
but be not surprised if your hands are empty in the harvest time.
We must give if we are to receive.