About the Poet:
Berton Braley (1882 - 1966) was an American poet. He was a prolific writer who wrote about twenty books and most of them were collections of poems. Some of his major works include Sonnets of a Freshman, Sonnets of a Suffragette, Songs of the Workaday World, Things As They Are and The World's One Thousand Best Poems. In 1934, Braley published the autobiographical Pegasus Pulls a Hack Memoirs of a Modern Minstrel.
About the Poem:
Start Where You Stand is a motivational poem. The poet believes that we cannot let past events hold us back from achieving what we want today and in future.
For the Summary of 'Start Where You Stand', please click the below link
Start Where You Stand
Start where you stand and never mind the past,
The past won't help you in beginning new,
If you have left it all behind at last
Why, that's enough, you're done with it, you're through;
This is another chapter in the book,
This is another race that you have planned,
Don't give the vanished days a backward look,
Start where you stand.
The world won't care about your old defeats
If you can start a new and win success,
The future is your time, and time is fleet
And there is much of work and strain and stress;
Forget the buried woes and dead despairs,
Here is a brand-new trial right at hand,
The future is for him who does and dares,
Start where you stand.
Old failures will not halt, old triumphs aid,
To-day's the thing, to-morrow soon will be;
Get in the fight and face it unafraid,
And leave the past to ancient history
What has been, has been; Yesterday is dead
And by it you are neither blessed nor banned.
Take courage, man, be brave and drive ahead,
Start where you stand.
Multiple Choice Question
1. The poet wants us to start without minding the ..
(a) Present
(b) Past
(c) Future
(d) None of these
Ans. (b) past
2. You’re done with it, you’re through. The figure of speech in the line is ..
(a) Repetition
(b) Tautology
(c) Alliteration
(d) Metaphor
Ans. (b) Tautology
3. This is another chapter in the book. 'This' in the above line refers to ..
(a) a new beginning
(b) the past
(c) the future
(d) the closed chapter
Ans. (a) a new beginning
4. The poet wants us to forget our .. and ..
(a) joys and happiness
(b) joys and sorrow
(c) woes and despair
(d) woes and joys
Ans. (c) woes and despair
5. 'Time is fleet' means time is ..
(a) money
(b) slow paced
(c) fast paced
(d) very precious
Ans. (c) fast paced
6. The future is for him who ..
(a) sits and stares
(b) walks and learns
(c) does and dares
(d) sleeps and relaxes
Ans. (c) does and dares
7. The poet wants us to be alerted in the ..
(a) past
(b) present
(c) future
(d) sleeps and relaxes
Ans. (b) present
8. Surging ahead in life needs ..
(a) power
(b) strength
(c) money
(d) courage
Ans. (d) courage
9. According to the poet, our life is of .. chapters.
(a) one
(b) two
(c) three
(d) several
Ans. (c) three
10. The poet wants the reader to realise that clinging to the past is ..
(a) important
(b) helpful
(c) futile
(d) an asset
Ans. (c) futile
11. The poem is ..
(a) humorous
(b) romantic
(c) diclactice
(d) motivational
Ans. (d) motivational
12. Our past should be ..
(a) an open chapter
(b) a shut chapter
(c) a continuous chapter
(d) an elongated chapter
Ans. (b) a shut chapter
13. The time start where you stand means:
(a) Choose the place where you stand for a fresh start
(b) Choose the time of the past for a fresh start
(c) Choose the time of the present for a fresh start
(d) Choose any time of your life for a fresh start
Ans. (c) Choose the time of the present for a fresh start
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