It Can Be Done - Poems of Inspiration | Page 6

shame him, starve him too?If he so much as frown.?God knows I hold no brief for them;?Still, come with me to-day?And watch those fat directors meet,?For this is what they say:
"In all our force not one to take?The new work that we plan!?In all the thousand men we've hired?Where shall we find a man?"
The world is shabby in the way?It treats a fellow too;?It just endures him while he works,?And kicks him when he's through.?It's ruthless, yes; let him make good,?Or else it grabs its broom?And grumbles: "What a clutter's here!?We can't have this. Make room!"
And out he goes. It says, "Can bread?Be made from mouldy bran??The men come swarming here in droves,?But where'll I find a man?"
Yes, life is hard. But all the same?It seeks the man who's best.?Its grudging makes the prizes big;?The obstacle's a test.?Don't ask to find the pathway smooth,?To march to fife and drum;?The plum-tree will not come to you;?Jack Horner, hunt the plum.
The eyes of life are yearning, sad,?As humankind they scan.?She says, "Oh, there are men enough,?But where'll I find a man?"
St. Clair Adams.
IF I SHOULD DIE
A man whose word is as good as his bond is a man the world admires. It is related of Fox that a tradesman whom he long had owed money found him one day counting gold and asked for payment. Fox replied: "No; I owe this money to Sheridan. It is a debt of honor. If an accident should happen to me, he has nothing to show." The tradesman tore his note to pieces: "I change my debt into a debt of honor." Fox thanked him and handed over the money, saying that Sheridan's debt was not of so long standing and that Sheridan must wait. But most of us know men who are less scrupulous than Fox.
If I should die to-night?And you should come to my cold corpse and say,?Weeping and heartsick o'er my lifeless clay--?If I should die to-night,?And you should come in deepest grief and woe--?And say: "Here's that ten dollars that I owe,"?I might arise in my large white cravat?And say, "What's that?"
If I should die to-night?And you should come to my cold corpse and kneel,?Clasping my bier to show the grief you feel,?I say, if I should die to-night?And you should come to me, and there and then?Just even hint 'bout payin' me that ten,?I might arise the while,?But I'd drop dead again.
Ben King.
From "Ben King's Verse."
JUST BE GLAD
Misfortunes overtake us, difficulties confront us; but these things must not induce us to give up. A Congressman who had promised Thomas B. Reed to be present at a political meeting telegraphed at the last moment: "Cannot come; washout on the line." "No need to stay away," said Reed's answering telegram; "buy another shirt."
O heart of mine, we shouldn't
Worry so!?What we've missed of calm we couldn't
Have, you know!?What we've met of stormy pain,?And of sorrow's driving rain,?We can better meet again,
If it blow!
We have erred in that dark hour
We have known,?When our tears fell with the shower,
All alone!--?Were not shine and shower blent?As the gracious Master meant?--?Let us temper our content
With His own.
For, we know, not every morrow
Can be sad;?So, forgetting all the sorrow
We have had,?Let us fold away our fears,?And put by our foolish tears,?And through all the coming years
Just be glad.
James Whitcomb Riley.
From the Biographical Edition Of the?Complete Works of James Whitcomb Riley.
OPPORTUNITY
"I lack only one of having a hundred," said a student after an examination; "I have the two naughts." And all he did lack was a one, rightly placed. The world is full of opportunities. Discernment to perceive, courage to undertake, patience to carry through, will change the whole aspect of the universe for us and bring positive achievement out of meaningless negation.
With doubt and dismay you are smitten?You think there's no chance for you, son??Why, the best books haven't been written?The best race hasn't been run,?The best score hasn't been made yet,?The best song hasn't been sung,?The best tune hasn't been played yet,?Cheer up, for the world is young!
No chance? Why the world is just eager?For things that you ought to create?Its store of true wealth is still meagre?Its needs are incessant and great,?It yearns for more power and beauty?More laughter and love and romance,?More loyalty, labor and duty,?No chance--why there's nothing but chance!
For the best verse hasn't been rhymed yet,?The best house hasn't been planned,?The highest peak hasn't been climbed yet,?The mightiest rivers aren't spanned,?Don't worry and fret, faint hearted,?The chances have just begun,?For the Best jobs haven't been started,?The Best work hasn't been done.
Berton Braley.
From "A Banjo at Armageddon."
SOLITUDE
Said an Irishman who had several times been kicked downstairs: "I begin to think they don't want me around here." So it is with our sorrows, our struggles. Life decrees that they belong to us individually. If we try