January 11, 2011

It Couldn’t Be Done -- Edgar Guest


Somebody said that  it couldn’t be done
     But, he with a chuckle replied
That "maybe it couldn’t," but he would be one
     Who wouldn’t say so till he’d tried.
So he buckled right in with the trace of a grin
     On his face. If he worried he hid it.
He started to sing as he tackled the thing
     That couldn’t be done, and he did it.

Somebody scoffed: "Oh, you’ll never do that;
     At least no one has done it";
But he took off his coat and he took off his hat,
     And the first thing we knew he’d begun it.
With a lift of his chin and a bit of a grin,
     Without any doubting or quiddit,
He started to sing as he tackled the thing
     That couldn’t be done, and he did it.

There are thousands to tell you it cannot be done,
     There are thousands to prophesy failure;
There are thousands to point out to you one by one,
     The dangers that wait to assail you.
But just buckle it in with a bit of a grin,
     Just take off your coat and go to it;
Just start to sing as you tackle the thing
     That "couldn’t be done," and you’ll do it.
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 Quiddit - A subtilty; an equivocation.
 
from Collected Verse of Edgar Guest

3 comments:

  1. Best Post of this Month Sir,

    But somehow, as day always follows the night,
    Most of our troubles work out all right.
    Edgar A. Guest, from Things Work Out.

    Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  2. //just buckle it in with a bit of a grin,//

    Wow...!
    Wow...!!
    Wow....!!!

    Confident, Courageous & Optimistic words..!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Wonderful poetry. Should be read daily at the start of the day !!!

    ReplyDelete

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