Frederick Douglas Harper is a poet with long term interest in the welfare and growth of young people. He has published various articles, and poems on teenagers. He has also worked with young people for more than three decades as a school teacher, university professor, and counsellor. The work “Poems for Young People” contain poems which are inspirational, and educational. The topics that are dealt by the poet is framed in an instructive way. It also stresses on the importance of values, and character building. Positive values which give strength such as how to be courageous, and the ways of getting inspired are also been dealt with. He also takes his readers into the spiritual life, for Douglas has also been referred to be as a spiritual master among his followers, and readers. The poems also deals with the efforts on how to deal with loss, sadness, grief, and also death. The other themes dealt by Douglas are on building self-esteem, understanding and self-acceptance. This paper deals with the select poems of Douglas, which will empower the growth of the youth.

1. Inspirational Poems for the Youth: An
Analysis of select poems
of Frederick Douglas Harper
JOSHUA GNANA RAJ P
RESEARCH SCHOLAR
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH
JOSHUARAJ10@GMAIL.COM
PERIYAR UNIVERSITY, SALEM 11

2. Poems for Young People
Inspirational, Educational, and Therapeutic Poetry
by Frederick Douglas Harper
Preface
 “The book was mainly written for young people, who include
children, teenagers, and and young adults. Of course, young adults
include younger college students” (Douglas v).
 “poetic writings in Poems for Young People provide wise guidance,
life teachings, and inspirational messages” (Douglas v)
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3. Titles
Advice for Young People (2)
1. Advice to the Young
2. Watch Your Mouth
On Values, Character, & Morality (8)
1. If No one has told you about right and wrong
2. Right and Wrong
3. If You Can, then
4. If You are Angry
5. No Excuses, No Regrets
6. Truth and Lies
7. Giving is a Gift
8. Among the Greatest Things
Courage, Inspiration, & Strength (1)
1. Get Up Mighty Person
Spirituality & Meaning of Life (3)
1. A Humble Prayer
2. Peace
3. Let the Children bring Peace
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4. Titles
Love for Family (3)
1. Ode to Granddad
2. Love your Chain
3. Thanks Mother
Loss, Sadness, Grief, & Death (4)
1. Meaning of Life and Death
2. Loss of a Child
3. Today and Tomorrow
4. Ode to Mrs. Cook
Identity, Understanding, Self-Esteem,
& Self-Acceptance (3)
1. The Right to be Yourself
2. Shine where you are
3. Everyone is Special
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5. Analysis
1. Live long, be safe, / Avoid excess chemicals lipped through the face; / Because tobacco and
alcohol can diminish your health, / And in the end can pose threat to your wealth” (Watch Your
Mouth 5-8).
2. “I tell you more: / It’s wrong to hurtfully trick or deceive someone / Who trust in you” (If No One
has told you about Right and Wrong 12-14);
3. “If you have the opportunity / To do the right thing; / Then do not hesitate” (If You Can, Then 5-
7).
4. “If you are angry, just close your eyes / And breathe deeply and slowly; / If you are angry, just try
to cool down / And think straight” (If You are Angry 10-13).
5. “Get up you girl, get up you boy, / Get up you woman, get up you man, / Get up mighty person-
you can” (Get up Mighty Person 11-13).
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6. 1. “For every good deed done, / You will be blessed ten-fold; / Give and let there be peace” (Peace
1-3); and he also writes “Let us avoid jealousy and hatred, / Greed for another’s bread, and /
Distrust of those who trust; / Let there be peace by being at peace” (Peace 9-12). In the final lines
he also touches upon the preservation of the nature that grows in the rural sides by saying, “Let
us enjoy life’s natural fruits and consume / Not the entire vineyard nor destroy the / Countryside”
(Peace 18-20).
2. In the poem “Love your Chain” (Douglas 84) he again talks to his readers by writing the lines “Love
all links in your chain / For a broken chain has no purpose” (Love Your Chain 12-13). Here the
word family is symbolized to a ‘Chain’.
3. The “Loss of a Child” (Douglas 99) is also another touching poem where he says that “The loss of a
child’s presence / Cannot be replaced, / Cannot be forgotten, / Cannot be forgiven” (Loss of a
Child 1-4). He also compares that “The loss of a child is a loss of part of / Oneself” (Loss of a Child
9-10). He also says that is “The loss, whether permanent, or temporary, / Is piercing to the heart; a
wound that never / Heals in full and a pain that comes and goes” (Loss of a Child 11-13).
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7. Analysis
1. The poem “Ode to Mrs. Cook” (Douglas 105) has a note attached along to it in the end, where it
reads “*Mrs. Cook was a master teacher of my sixth-grade class. “Us” was that class. Mrs. Cook
died in an automobile accident some years later during my college years” (Douglas 105).
2. “The Right to be Yourself” (Douglas 112) he writes “Each person has a right to think / And not be
thought for” (The Right to be Yourself 1-2).
3. At the end of the poem “Everyone is Special” the lines says that “Remember, everyone is special at
something, / Everyone is special for something; / And you are special too” (Everyone is Special 10-
12).
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8. 8
Works Cited
Harper, Frederick Douglas. Poems for Young People. Indiana: AuthorHouse, 2004. Print.
—. Poems on Love and Life. Indiana: AuthorHouse, 2004. Print.
—. God’s Gifts: Spiritual Writings. Indiana: AuthorHouse, 2003. Print.

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10. 
Thank you
