Try Again

"Try Again" is a poem written in a narrative style, meaning it tells a complete story with a beginning, a middle and an end, rather than simply describing a feeling or a single image. The poem is signed Eliza Cook, and it is built from fourteen stanzas (groups of lines), each made of exactly four lines.

The story inside the poem is about a real historical figure, King Bruce of Scotland, shown at a low point: he has been trying to achieve something important for his people and has failed again and again. While he sits in despair, he happens to watch a spider trying, over and over, to climb up to its web on the ceiling. The spider's struggle and eventual success change the King's own resolve.

Because it tells a story with a clear sequence of events, a main human character, and a turning point, the poem reads almost like a very compact short story set in verse. Keep this narrative shape in mind: most exam questions on this poem are really asking you to track what happens, in what order, rather than to analyse a single mood or image.

The poem opens with King Bruce flinging himself down "in a lonely mood to think". Although he wears a crown, his heart is sinking, because he has been trying hard "to make his people glad" and has failed again and again at this great deed. In his low despair he says aloud, "I'll give it all up."

At that exact low moment, a spider drops down nearby on a fine silken thread. The King, still sunk in his own thoughts, pauses to watch it, curious how such a small creature means to climb all the way back up to its web on the distant ceiling. What follows is described in close detail: the spider climbs "straight up with strong endeavour" only to come sliding back down; it tries again, climbing further before falling, "a little dizzy and faint"; it steadies itself and climbs half a yard higher along the "delicate thread"; it falls and mounts again, again and again, until "nine brave attempts were counted."

Watching this, King Bruce assumes the spider is finished, remarking that "that foolish thing will strive no more to climb" after tumbling so many times. But the spider goes up once more. This tenth attempt is described as agonisingly close, "only a foot from his cobweb door", before the spider climbs the final stretch "steadily, steadily, inch by inch" and, with one last bold run, reaches home safely.

King Bruce is thrilled, crying out, "Bravo, bravo! All honour to those who try," and asking himself why the spider should succeed where he has not: "He conquered, and why shouldn't I?" The poem ends by telling us that Bruce braced his mind and tried once more at his own great deed, and "that time did not fail."

One reason this poem works so well is the care it takes over the spider's failures. The poet does not simply say "the spider tried many times"; she shows each stage of effort: climbing "straight up with strong endeavour," falling with "a slippery sprawl," growing "dizzy and faint," steadying its head, and gaining "a half-yard higher" before slipping back again. This slow, detailed build-up is what makes the final line of this stretch, "nine brave attempts were counted", land with real weight.

The King's comment in between is important too. Right when the spider seems most likely to give up, the King predicts exactly that: it will "strive no more to climb". This is the moment of greatest doubt in the whole poem, placed deliberately just before the spider's final, successful attempt. By letting a human character voice the doubt the reader might also be feeling, the poem makes the eventual success more surprising and more satisfying.

The tenth attempt is described differently from the earlier nine: it moves "steadily, steadily, inch by inch," with no mention of falling at all, finishing in a single "bold little run" into the web. The contrast between the earlier, repeated failures and this one unbroken climb highlights that persistence, not luck, is what finally works.

The most important device in the poem is a metaphor: the spider's repeated climbing and falling stands for King Bruce's own repeated attempts at his great deed. Neither the poem nor the King ever says outright, "the spider is like me"; instead, the comparison is implied through the way the spider's story is placed right beside the King's, and through the King's final question, "He conquered, and why shouldn't I?", which openly draws the two struggles together.

Repetition is used to stress effort and gradual progress: phrases such as "tried and tried," "steadily, steadily," and "up, up" repeat a word or phrase to make the reader feel the slow, grinding nature of the spider's (and the King's) struggle, rather than simply stating that the effort was difficult.

The poem also uses alliteration, the repetition of the same consonant sound at the start of nearby words, as in "silken, filmy" and "slippery sprawl", which gives these lines a smooth or slithery sound that matches what they describe.

Finally, the poem uses old-fashioned contracted forms such as 'twas (it was) and 'tis (it is). These shortened forms exist mainly for rhythm: dropping a syllable keeps each line's beat even and the poem easy to read aloud, which matters a great deal in a poem meant to be recited.

Each stanza of the poem has four lines, and the rhyme follows an ABAB pattern: the first and third lines rhyme with each other, and the second and fourth lines rhyme with each other. In the opening stanza, for example, "think" (end of line 2) rhymes with "sink" (end of line 4), while "down" (line 1) rhymes with "crown" (line 3). The same pattern, first-with-third and second-with-fourth, repeats through all fourteen stanzas.

This steady rhyme, combined with the poem's fairly regular rhythm, gives "Try Again" a song-like, ballad quality, which suits a poem meant to be told aloud as a story with a clear moral at the end. The predictable pattern also makes the poem easier to memorise and recite, which was often the purpose of this kind of narrative verse.

The poem's clearest theme is perseverance: the idea that repeated failure is not the same as final failure, and that trying again, even after many setbacks, can lead to success. The spider's nine failed climbs are not wasted; each one is a step the spider learns from before its tenth, successful attempt. The poem's closing lines make the lesson explicit by showing Bruce apply it directly to his own life, trying his own task again and succeeding where he had earlier given up.

A related idea in the poem is that inspiration can come from an unexpected, humble source. King Bruce is a monarch, used to matters of state and great deeds, yet the lesson that changes his mind comes from an ordinary spider doing something small and ordinary. The poem suggests that wisdom about effort and persistence is available everywhere, not only from grand examples.

The poem is credited to Eliza Cook, a nineteenth-century English poet known for writing in a plain, accessible style with clear moral lessons, which fits exactly the kind of straightforward, encouraging story told here. Keep in mind that the poem's main purpose is to deliver its message about perseverance clearly enough to be understood and remembered by any reader, young or old.

Because this is a narrative poem, many questions will ask you to retell part of the story accurately. Before answering, line up the two parallel stories in your head: the King's repeated failure and renewed attempt, and the spider's nine failures and tenth success. A strong answer keeps these two threads connected rather than describing only one of them.

When a question asks you to name a poetic device, be precise rather than general. Do not simply say "the poet uses imagery"; say which device it is, metaphor, repetition or alliteration, quote the exact words, and explain in one sentence what effect that device has on the reader.

For questions about meaning or theme, always tie your answer back to perseverance and the idea that trying again is worthwhile even after many failures. A question about the spider's nine attempts, for instance, is really asking you to explain why the poet counted them so carefully, which connects directly to this central theme.

Finally, for any question quoting a specific line, read the few lines around it before answering. The poem's meaning often depends on where a line sits, such as the King's doubtful remark arriving just before the spider's actual success, which gives that remark its ironic weight.