The other night I was talking with my husband about an upcoming project I was going to work on and out of the blue, I started quoting something I had memorized as a young adult!
“Somebody said it couldn’t be done, but I with a chuckle replied.. Maybe it couldn’t, but I wouldn’t be one to say so until I had tried”
(as it turns out I had altered a few of the words over the years… but held onto the spirit of the message)
My husband questioned this and I told him it was a quote from a famous poem.. but for the life of me I could not tell him the name of the poem or the poet…
What to do???? Google of course!
In short order I found the Poet – Edgar Albert Guest–
He lived around the turn of the century (20th century that is) and wrote for the Detroit Free Press.Believe it or not he wrote over ELEVEN THOUSAND poems during his lifetime.. All with the upbeat, optimistic vibe that oozes from this one.
Isn’t it amazing the tidbits that are stored in our brain… only to emerge at the appropriate time when we need them?
I remember now, my Father quoting this poem and thus embedding this sentiment permanently in my psyche.
Living the words of this poem is not always easy; yet what is the alternative?? A dull and uninteresting life?? Not for me! and not for most of us!
Here is the entire poem. Enjoy.
It Couldn’t Be Done
by 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 ever has done it”
But he took off his coat and he took off his hat, and the first thing he 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.
Diana Jackson says
Love the poem Alene!
Thought of the Day ‘I can!’