He Did It

From the Newark Evening Star, September 19, 1914.

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 the lift of his chin and a bit of a grin,
    If any doubt rose he forbid it;
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 who 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,
    Then take off your coat and go to it.
Just start in to sing as you tackle the thing
    That “cannot be done,” and you’ll do it.