Poetry Corner: It Couldn’t Be Done
As some of you know, I have a great love of lyrics. This also extends to what some forms of poetry and one of my most favorite poets is a man known as the People’s Poet, Edgar Albert Guest.
He wrote over 11,000 poems in his lifetime but there are three that are considered by many, me included, to be his most inspiring. The one that follows relates to the topic of discouragement that Jim posted last week. I’ll include the other two over the next few months. It Couldn’t Be Done
Edgar Albert Guest (1881-1959)
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 ever 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 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 “cannot be done,” and you’ll do it.
image courtesy of puck90
