It can be done · Chapter 1Opening
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JOSEPH MORRIS and ST. CLAIR ADAMS
This is a volume of inspirational poems. Its purpose is to bring men courage and resolution, to cheer them, to fire them with new confidence when they grow dispirited, to strengthen their faith that THINGS CAN BE DONE. It is better for this purpose than the entire works of any one poet, for it takes the cream of many and has greater diversity than any one writer can show.
It is made up chiefly of very recent poems—not such as were written for anthologies of poetical "gems," but such as speak directly to the heart, always in very simple language, often in the phrases of shop or office or street. Included, however, with the poems of the day are a few of the fine old pieces that have been of comfort to men through the ages.
Besides the poems themselves, the volume contains helps to their understanding and enjoyment. The pieces are introduced by short comments; these serve the same purpose as the strain played by the pianist before the singer begins to sing; they create a mood, give a point of view, throw light on the meaning of what follows. Also the lives of the authors are briefly summarized; this is in answer to our natural interest in the writer of a poem we like, and in the case of living poets it brings together facts hardly to be found anywhere else.
Finally, the book is not one to be read and then cast aside. It is to be kept as a constant companion and an unfailing recourse in weariness or gloom. Human companions are not always in the mood to cheer us, and may talk upon themes we dislike. But this book will converse or be silent, it is never out of sorts or discouraged, and so far from being wed to some single topic, it will speak to us at any time on any subject we desire.
To many authors and publishers acknowledgment is due for generous permission to use copyright material.
Abou Ben Adhem……………………….. Leigh Hunt Answer, The………………………….. Grantland Rice Appreciation…………………………. William Judson Kibby Arrow and the Song, The……………….. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Awareness……………………………. Miriam Teichner
Bars of Fate, The…………………….. Ellen M.H. Gates Battle Cry…………………………… John G. Neihardt Belly and the Members, The…………….. William Shakespeare Be the Best of Whatever You Are………… Douglas Malloch Borrowed Feathers…………………….. Joseph Morris Borrowing Trouble…………………….. Robert Burns Brave Life…………………………… Grantland Rice
Call of the Unbeaten, The……………… Grantland Rice Can't……………………………….. Edgar A. Guest Can You Sing a Song?………………….. Joseph Morris Cares……………………………….. Elizabeth Barrett Browning Celestial Surgeon, The………………… Robert Louis Stevenson Challenge……………………………. Jean Nette Chambered Nautilus, The……………….. Oliver Wendell Holmes Character of a Happy Life……………… Sir Henry Wotton Clear the Way………………………… Charles Mackay Cleon and I………………………….. Charles Mackay Columbus…………………………….. Joaquin Miller Conqueror, The……………………….. Berton Braley Co-operation…………………………. J. Mason Knox Courage……………………………… _Florence Earle Coates Cowards……………………………… William Shakespeare Creed, A…………………………….. Edwin Markham
Daffodils, The……………………….. William Wordsworth Days of Cheer………………………… James W. Foley December 31………………………….. S.E. Kiser De Sunflower Ain't de Daisy……………. Anonymous Disappointed, The…………………….. Ella Wheeler Wilcox Duty………………………………… Ralph Waldo Emerson Duty………………………………… Edwin Markham
Envoi……………………………….. John G. Neihardt Essentials…………………………… St. Clair Adams
Fable……………………………….. Ralph Waldo Emerson Fairy Song…………………………… John Keats Faith……………………………….. S.E. Kiser Faith……………………………….. Edward Rowland Sill Fighter, The…………………………. S.E. Kiser Fighting Failure, The…………………. Everard Jack Appleton Firm of Grin and Barrett, The………….. Sam Walter Foss Four Things………………………….. Henry Van Dyke Friends of Mine………………………. James W. Foley
Game, The……………………………. Grantland Rice Gifts of God, The…………………….. George Herbert Gift, The……………………………. Robert Burns Gladness…………………………….. Anna Hempstead Branch Glad Song, The……………………….. Joseph Morris God…………………………………. Gamaliel Bradford Good Deeds…………………………… William Shakespeare Good Intentions………………………. St. Clair Adams Good Name, A…………………………. William Shakespeare Gradatim…………………………….. G. Holland Gray Days……………………………. Griffith Alexander Greatness of the Soul, The…………….. Alfred Tennyson Grief……………………………….. Angela Morgan Grumpy Guy, The………………………. Griffith Alexander
Happy Heart, The……………………… Thomas Dekker Has-Beens, The……………………….. Walt Mason Having Done and Doing…………………. William Shakespeare Heinelet…………………………….. Gamaliel Bradford Helpin' Out………………………….. William Judson Kibby Here's Hopin'………………………… Frank L. Stanton Hero, A……………………………… Florence Earle Coates He Whom a Dream Hath Possessed…………. Sheamus O Sheel His Ally…………………………….. William Rose Benét Hoe Your Row…………………………. Frank L. Stanton Hold Fast……………………………. Everard Jack Appleton Hope………………………………… Anonymous Hopeful Brother, A……………………. Frank L. Stanton House by the Side of the Road, The……… Sam Walter Foss How Did You Die?……………………… Edmund Vance Cooke How Do You Tackle Your Work?…………… Edgar A. Guest Hymn to Happiness, A………………….. James W. Foley
If………………………………….. John Kendrick Bangs If………………………………….. Rudyard Kipling If I Should Die………………………. Ben King If You Can't Go Over or Under, Go Round…. Joseph Morris I'm Glad…………………………….. Anonymous Inner Light, The……………………… John Milton Invictus…………………………….. William Ernest Henley Is It Raining, Little Flower?………….. Anonymous It Couldn't Be Done…………………… Edgar A. Guest It May Be……………………………. S.E. Riser It Won't Stay Blowed………………….. St. Clair Adams
Jaw…………………………………. St. Clair Adams Joy of Living, The……………………. Gamaliel Bradford Just Be Glad…………………………. James Whitcomb Riley Just Whistle…………………………. Frank L. Stanton
Keep A-Goin'!………………………… Frank L. Stanton Keep On Keepin' On……………………. Anonymous Keep Sweet…………………………… Strickland W. Gillilan Kingdom of Man, The…………………… John Kendrick Bangs Know Thyself…………………………. Angela Morgan
Laugh a Little Bit……………………. Edmund Vance Cooke Lesson from History, A………………… Joseph Morris Let Me Live Out My Years………………. John G. Neihardt Life………………………………… Griffith Alexander Life………………………………… Edward Rowland Sill Life………………………………… Ella Wheeler Wilcox Life and Death……………………….. Anna Barbauld Life and Death……………………….. Ernest H. Crosby Life, not Death………………………. Alfred Tennyson Life Without Passion………………….. William Shakespeare Lion Path, The……………………….. Charlotte Perkins Gilman Lions and Ants……………………….. Walt Mason Little Prayer, A……………………… S.E. Kiser Little Thankful Song, A……………….. Frank L. Stanton Lose the Day Loitering………………… Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Man, Bird, and God……………………. Robert Browning Man or Manikin……………………….. Richard Butler Glaenzer Man's a Man for A' That, A…………….. Robert Burns Man Who Frets at Worldly Strife, The……. Joseph Rodman Drake Meetin' Trouble………………………. Everard Jack Appleton "Might Have Been"…………………….. Grantland Rice Mistress Fate………………………… William Rose Benét Morality…………………………….. Matthew Arnold My Creed…………………………….. S.E. Kiser My Philosophy………………………… James Whitcomb Riley My Triumph…………………………… John Greenleaf Whittier My Wage……………………………… Jessie B. Rittenhouse
Never Trouble Trouble…………………. St. Clair Adams New Duckling, The…………………….. Alfred Noyes Noble Nature, The…………………….. Ben Jonson
Ode to Duty………………………….. William Wordsworth On Being Ready……………………….. Grantland Rice On Down the Road……………………… Grantland Rice One Fight More……………………….. Theodosia Garrison One of These Days…………………….. James W. Foley One, The…………………………….. Everard Jack Appleton Opening Paradise……………………… Thomas Gray Opportunity………………………….. Berton Braley Opportunity………………………….. John James Ingalls Opportunity………………………….. Walter Malone Opportunity………………………….. Edwin Markham Opportunity………………………….. William Shakespeare Opportunity………………………….. Edward Rowland Sill Order and the Bees……………………. William Shakespeare Ownership……………………………. St. Clair Adams
Painting the Lily…………………….. William Shakespeare Per Aspera…………………………… Florence Earle Coates Pessimist, The……………………….. Ben King Philosopher, A……………………….. John Kendrick Bangs Philosophy for Croakers……………….. Joseph Morris Pippa's Song…………………………. Robert Browning Playing the Game……………………… Anonymous Playing the Game……………………… Berton Braley Play the Game………………………… Henry Newbolt Polonius's Advice to Laertes…………… William Shakespeare Poor Unfortunate, A…………………… Frank L. Stanton Praise the Generous Gods for Giving…….. William Ernest Henley Prayer, A……………………………. Theodosia Garrison Prayer for Pain………………………. John G. Neihardt Preparedness…………………………. Edwin Markham Press On…………………………….. Park Benjamin Pretty Good World, A………………….. Frank L. Stanton Problem to Be Solved, A……………….. St. Clair Adams Prometheus Unbound……………………. Percy Bysshe Shelley Prospice…………………………….. Robert Browning Psalm of Life, A……………………… Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Quitter, The…………………………. Robert W. Service
Rabbi Ben Ezra……………………….. Robert Browning Rainbow, The…………………………. William Wordsworth Rectifying Years, The…………………. St. Clair Adams Resolve……………………………… Charlotte Perkins Gilman Richer Mines, The…………………….. John Kendrick Bangs Ring Out, Wild Bells………………….. Alfred Tennyson Rules for the Road……………………. Edwin Markham
Sadness and Merriment…………………. William Shakespeare Say Not the Struggle Nought Availeth……. Arthur Hugh Clough See It Through……………………….. Edgar A. Guest Self-Dependence………………………. Matthew Arnold Serenity…………………………….. Lord Byron Sit Down, Sad Soul……………………. Bryan Waller Procter Sleep and the Monarch…………………. William Shakespeare Slogan………………………………. Jane M'Lean Smiles………………………………. Ella Wheeler Wilcox Smiling Paradox, A……………………. John Kendrick Bangs Solitude…………………………….. Ella Wheeler Wilcox Song of Endeavor……………………… James W. Foley Song of Life, A………………………. Angela Morgan Song of Thanksgiving, A……………….. Angela Morgan Song of To-morrow, A………………….. Frank L. Stanton Stability……………………………. William Shakespeare Stand Forth!…………………………. Angela Morgan Start Where You Stand…………………. Bert on Braley Steadfast……………………………. Everard Jack Appleton Stone Rejected, The…………………… Edwin Markham Struggle, The………………………… Miriam Teichner Submission…………………………… Miriam Teichner Success……………………………… Berton Braley Swellitis……………………………. Joseph Morris Syndicated Smile, The…………………. St. Clair Adams
There Will Always Be Something to Do……. Edgar A. Guest Thick Is the Darkness…………………. William Ernest Henley Things That Haven't Been Done Before, The.. Edgar A. Guest This World…………………………… Frank L. Stanton Times Go by Turns…………………….. Robert Southwell Tit for Tat………………………….. St. Clair Adams To Althea from Prison…………………. Richard Lovelace Toast to Merriment, A…………………. James W. Foley To a Young Man……………………….. Edgar A. Guest To-day………………………………. Thomas Carlyle To-day………………………………. Douglas Malloch To Melancholy………………………… John Kendrick Bangs To the Men Who Lose…………………… Anonymous To Those Who Fail…………………….. Joaquin Miller To Youth After Pain…………………… Margaret Widdemer Trainers, The………………………… Grantland Rice Two at a Fireside…………………….. Edwin Markham Two Raindrops………………………… Joseph Morris
Ultimate Act…………………………. Henry Bryan Binns Ulysses……………………………… Alfred Tennyson Unafraid…………………………….. Everard Jack Appleton Undismayed…………………………… James W. Foley Unmusical Soloist, The………………… Joseph Morris Unsubdued……………………………. S.E. Kiser
Victory……………………………… Miriam Teichner Victory in Defeat…………………….. Edwin Markham
Wanted—a Man………………………… St. Clair Adams Welcome Man, The……………………… Walt Mason What Dark Days Do…………………….. Everard Jack Appleton When Earth's Last Picture Is Painted……. Rudyard Kipling When Nature Wants a Man……………….. Angela Morgan Will………………………………… Alfred Tennyson Will………………………………… Ella Wheeler Wilcox Wisdom of Folly, The………………….. Ellen Thorneycroft Fowler Wishing……………………………… Ella Wheeler Wilcox Woman Who Understands, The…………….. Everard Jack Appleton Word, The……………………………. John Kendrick Bangs Work………………………………… Angela Morgan Work………………………………… Henry Van Dyke World Is Against Me, The………………. Edgar A. Guest Worth While………………………….. Ella Wheeler Wilcox
You May Count That Day………………… George Eliot Your Mission…………………………. Ellen M.H. Gates
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