It Can Be Done Part 27

It is easier to fail than succeed. It is easier to drift downstream than up. But just as pent steam finds an escape somewhere, so will the man who persists break at one point or another through confining circ.u.mstance.

To the sniffing pickaninny once his good old mammy said, "Yo' lil' black nose am drippin' from de cold dat's in yo' head, An' yo' sleeve am slick and s.h.i.+ny like de hillside when it snows.

Why doan' you pump de bellers from de inside ob yo' nose?"

"Ain't I been," the child replied to her, "a-doin' ob jes' dat Twel I's got a turble empty feel right whur I wears muh hat?

De traffic soht o' nacherly keeps gittin' in de road.

I blow muh nose a-plenty, but it won't stay blowed.

"What's de use ob raisin' chickens ef dey won't stay riz?

What's de use ob freezin' sherbet ef it won't stay friz?

What's de use ob payin' debts off ef dey's gwine stay owed?

What's de use ob blowin' noses ef dey won't stay blowed?"

This old world is sometimes jealous of the chap who means to rise; It sneers at what he's doing or it bats him 'twixt the eyes; It trips him when he's careless, and it makes his way so hard What's left of him is sinew, not a walking tub of lard; But it's only wasting effort, for by George, the guy keeps on When his hopes have crumbled round him and you'd think his faith was gone, Till the world at last knocks under and it pa.s.ses him a crown: Once, twice, thrice it has upset him, but he won't stay down.

What cares he when out he's flattened by the cruel blow it deals?

He has rubber in his shoulders and a mainspring in his heels.

Let the world uncork its buffets till he's bruised from toe to crown; Let it thump him, b.u.mp him, dump him, but he won't stay down.

_St. Clair Adams._

THE RAINBOW

Our lives are not a hodge-podge of separate experiences, though they sometimes seem so. They are held together by simple things which we behold again and again with the same emotions. Thus the man is what the boy has been; the tree is inclined in the precise direction the twig was bent.

My heart leaps up when I behold A rainbow in the sky: So was it when my life began; So is it now I am a man; So be it when I shall grow old, Or let me die!

The Child is father of the Man; And I could wish my days to be Bound each to each by natural piety.

_William Wordsworth._

THE FIRM OF GRIN AND BARRETT

It has been said that when disaster overtakes us, we can do one of two things--we can grin and bear it, or we needn't grin. The spirit that keeps a smile on our faces when our burden is heaviest is the spirit that will win in the long run. Many men know how to take success quietly. The real test of a man is he way he takes failure.

No financial throe volcanic Ever yet was known to scare it; Never yet was any panic Scared the firm of Grin and Barrett.

From the flurry and the fl.u.s.ter, From the ruin and the crashes, They arise in brighter l.u.s.tre, Like the phoenix from his ashes.

When the banks and corporations Quake with fear, they do not share it; Smiling through all perturbations Goes the firm of Grin and Barrett.

Grin and Barrett, Who can scare it?

Scare the firm of Grin and Barrett?

When the tide-sweep of reverses Smites them, firm they stand and dare it Without wailings, tears, or curses, This stout firm of Grin and Barrett.

Even should their house go under In the flood and inundation, Calm they stand amid the thunder Without noise or demonstration.

And, when sackcloth is the fas.h.i.+on, With a patient smile they wear it, Without petulance or pa.s.sion, This old firm of Grin and Barrett.

Grin and Barrett, Who can scare it?

Scare the firm of Grin and Barrett?

When the other firms show dizziness, Here's a house that does not share it.

Wouldn't you like to join the business?

Join the firm of Grin and Barrett?

Give your strength that does not murmur, And your nerve that does not falter, And you've joined a house that's firmer Than the old rock of Gibraltar.

They have won a good prosperity; Why not join the firm and share it?

Step, young fellow, with celerity; Join the firm of Grin and Barrett.

Grin and Barrett, Who can scare it?

Scare the firm of Grin and Barrett?

_Sam Walter Foss._

From "Songs of the Average Man."

[Ill.u.s.tration: SAM WALTER FOSS]

CHALLENGE

Napoleon is reported to have complained of the English that they didn't have sense enough to know when they were beaten. Even if defeat is unmistakable, it need not be final. A battle may be lost, but the campaign won; a campaign lost, but the war won.

Life, I challenge you to try me, Doom me to unending pain; Stay my hand, becloud my vision, Break my heart and then--again.

Shatter every dream I've cherished, Fill my heart with ruthless fear; Follow every smile that cheers me With a bitter, blinding tear.

Thus I dare you; you can try me, Seek to make me cringe and moan, Still my unbound soul defies you, I'll withstand you--and, alone!

_Jean Nette._

YOUR MISSION