[IbnMardhiyah]

The following poem has hung in my sisters' bedrooms, one after another, for years and years, well over a decade at least.

.................................................. .................................................. .........................

Don't Quit

When things go wrong as they sometimes will,
When the road you’re trudging seems all uphill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit…
Rest if you must … but don’t you quit.


Life is queer with its twists and turns,
As everyone of us sometimes learns.
And many a person turns about,
When he might have won had he stuck it out.
Don’t give up though the pace seems slow…
You may succeed with another blow.


Often the goal is nearer than,
It seems to a faint and faltering man.
Often the struggler has given up,
When he might have captured the victor’s cup.
And he learned too late when the night came down,
How close he was to the golden crown.


Success is failure turned inside out…
The silver tints of the clouds of doubt.
And you never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems afar.
So stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit,
Its when things seem worst that you mustn’t Quit.
.................................................. .................................................. .........................