A beginning is always a difficult phase, no matter what it's for. Remember when we were kids and moved from a lower class to a higher one? When we saw big answers in our books, it felt so hard to memorize them at first. But as we kept practicing, those long questions started feeling easier.
In the same way, life often requires us to start things over again — whether it's a new business or a new job. And for any new beginning, motivation is necessary, whether it comes from quotes or inspiring poems.
Poems are a beautiful medium to inspire anyone. Many of you must have read the poem The Road Not Taken, which gives us a powerful message: "Whenever life gives us choices, we must make our decisions wisely."
So, if you're planning a fresh start or thinking of starting something new in the future — and you need that initial push — you've come to the right place.
We've brought you 25 powerful and inspiring poems on new beginnings, and we guarantee that reading them will give your mindset a whole new perspective.
1. "The Road Not Taken" – Robert Frost
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth...
2. "Hope is the Thing with Feathers" – Emily Dickinson
"Hope" is the thing with feathers -
That perches in the soul -
And sings the tune without the words -
And never stops - at all -
And sweetest - in the Gale - is heard -
3. "Invictus" – William Ernest Henley
Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
4. "Begin Again" – Walter D. Wintle
If you think you are beaten, you are;
If you think you dare not, you don't.
If you'd like to win, but think you can't,
It's almost a cinch you won't.
Life's battles don't always go
To the stronger or faster man;
But sooner or later, the man who wins
Is the one who thinks he can.
5. "The Guest House" – Rumi
This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.
A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.
6. "New Every Morning" – Susan Coolidge
Every day is a fresh beginning,
Listen my soul to the glad refrain,
And, spite of old sorrow and older sinning,
And troubles forecasted and possible pain,
Take heart with the day and begin again.
7. "The Journey" – Mary Oliver
One day you finally knew
what you had to do, and began,
though the voices around you
kept shouting
their bad advice —
8. "Awakening" – John O'Donohue
Somewhere, out at the edges, the night
Is turning and the waves of darkness
Begin to brighten the shore of dawn.
The heavy dark falls back to earth
And the freed air goes wild with light,
The heart fills with fresh, bright breath
And thoughts stir to give birth to color.
9. "A New Day" – Helen Steiner Rice
This is the beginning of a new day.
God has given me this day to use as I will.
I can waste it or use it for good.
What I do today is important
Because I am exchanging a day of my life for it.
10. "Morning Poem" – Mary Oliver
Every morning
the world
is created.
Under the orange
sticks of the sun
the heaped
ashes of the night
turn into leaves again
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11. "Start Where You Stand" – Berton Braley
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,
12. "The Summer Day" – Mary Oliver
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?
13. "A Psalm of Life" – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Tell me not, in mournful numbers,
Life is but an empty dream!
For the soul is dead that slumbers,
And things are not what they seem.
Life is real! Life is earnest!
14. "For a New Beginning" – John O'Donohue
In out-of-the-way places of the heart,
Where your thoughts never think to wander,
This beginning has been quietly forming,
Waiting until you were ready to emerge.
15. "The Sun Rising" – John Donne
Busy old fool, unruly sun,
Why dost thou thus,
Through windows, and through curtains call on us?
Must to thy motions lovers' seasons run?
Saucy pedantic wretch, go chide
16. "Each and All" – Ralph Waldo Emerson
Little thinks, in the field, yon red-cloaked clown
Of thee from the hill-top looking down;
The heifer that lows in the upland farm,
Far-heard, lows not thine ear to charm;
The sexton, tolling his bell at noon,
17. "The Layers" – Stanley Kunitz
I have walked through many lives,
some of them my own,
and I am not who I was,
though some principle of being
abides, from which I struggle
not to stray.
18. "Song of the Open Road" – Walt Whitman
Afoot and light-hearted I take to the open road,
Healthy, free, the world before me,
The long brown path before me leading wherever I choose.
Henceforth I ask not good-fortune, I myself am good-fortune,
19. "Crossing" – Mark Strand
Not every man knows what he shall sing at the end,
Watching the pier as the ship sails away, or what it will seem like
When he's held by the sea's roar, motionless, there at the end,
20. "The Second Coming" – W.B. Yeats
Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
21. "Possibilities" – Wislawa Szymborska
I prefer movies.
I prefer cats.
I prefer the oaks along the Warta.
I prefer Dickens to Dostoyevsky.
I prefer myself liking people
22. "To the New Year" – W.S. Merwin
With what stillness at last
you appear in the valley
your first sunlight reaching down
to touch the tips of a few
high leaves that do not stir
23. "The Old Astronomer" – Sarah Williams
Though my soul may set in darkness, it will rise in perfect light;
I have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night.
24. "The Peace of Wild Things" – Wendell Berry
When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children's lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water,
25. "Begin" – Brendan Kennelly
Begin again to the summoning birds
to the sight of light at the window,
begin to the roar of morning traffic
all along Pembroke Road.
Every beginning is a promise
🌟 Final Thoughts
These 25 powerful poems about new beginnings remind us that every ending is a chance to start again. From Robert Frost's iconic crossroads to Mary Oliver's profound question about our "one wild and precious life," these verses capture the courage, hope, and determination needed to embrace change.
New beginnings can feel overwhelming, whether you're starting a new career, moving to a different city, ending a relationship, or simply deciding to change your perspective on life. These poems serve as gentle reminders that transformation is not only possible but essential to human growth.
The beauty of these verses lies in their ability to transform fear into excitement, uncertainty into possibility, and endings into opportunities. They remind us that every dawn brings a fresh start, every season offers renewal, and every moment holds the potential for rebirth.
Whether you're taking your first steps toward a dream, recovering from a setback, or simply seeking the motivation to try something new, these timeless poems offer the inspiration and wisdom to guide you forward.
Which one inspired you most? Let its words guide you as you step forward into your next chapter! ❤️
Want to explore more inspiring poetry? Check out our AI Poem Generator to create your own verses of hope and renewal.
