"Instructions on Not Giving Up," by the American poet Ada Limón, offers a message of hope and resilience. Unimpressed by early spring's "display" of bright, beautiful blossoms that quickly fade, the poem's speaker is drawn instead to the "Patient, plodding" green leaves that follow. The poem suggests that while intense joy is fleeting, people can learn from the trees to embrace all parts of life and not give up when things get hard. The poem was originally published in the Academy of American Poets Poem-a-Day series in 2017 and later collected in Limon's fifth collection, The Carrying, in 2018.
Get
LitCharts
|
More than the ...
... of Spring rains,
it’s the greening ...
... the leaves come.
Patient, plodding, a ...
... hurt, the empty.
Fine then, ...
... take it all.
Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.
The Value of Poetry in Times of Crisis — A PBS news segment in which Limón shares why she finds poetry inherently hopeful and why people are turning to it more than ever.
A review of The Carrying — Read a review of Limón's fifth book, in which "Instructions on Not Giving Up" was published.
Introduction to the Poet's Life and Career — A brief biography of the poet and links to additional poems from the Poetry Foundation.
Connected to the Universe: An Interview with the Poet — An interview for Guernica in which Limón discusses her influences, passions, and the risks she's taken in the name of poetry.
The Poet Discusses Her Work — An article by Limón discussing her inspiration and the process of writing this poem.
A Reading of the Poem — Listen to the poem read aloud.