It Couldn’t Be Done

Denice Moffat

13 years ago

It Couldn’t Be Done. . .

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 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 in to sing as you tackle the thing
That “cannot be done,” and you’ll do it.

Author: Edgar Albert Guest (1881-1959)

Helpful Books/Links/References for It Couldn’t Be Done:

I first heard this in a sermon, but when I googled, the resource up came literally in hundreds of places. This Edgar Albert Guest poem is quite popular. Here are a few places where it has been published:

Better English for Speaking and Writing: A Series of Three Books: Vol. 2 (Page 224) by Sarah Emma Simons, Clem Irwin Orr, Mary Ella Given © 1920
Practical Education: A Home Library of Fourteen Books in One (Page 478) by Perry Greenlye Holden, Edmund John McFadden, Orville T Bright © 1917
I Can Be Done (Page 19) by Scott T. Brown
Parenting and Partnering with Purpose Linking Homes, Schools and Churches to Educate Our Children (Page 81) by Natalie A Francisco © 2010
If you love this kind of reading then read more in this section: https://naturalhealthtechniques.com/inspiration-home-page/