To take this trouble seriously,
But not to gloom or whine;
To never overestimate
Our strength, or to decline
To see this is no picnic,
But do our earnest part
With brain and muscles, newly trained--
To keep a steady heart!
To fight, but not to lower
Our standards in the dust;
To meet a savage enemy
Whose words the world can't trust.
To guard our foolish tempers--
Or keep them out of sight!
To never falter, doubt, or fear
The outcome will be _right_!
To laugh--whenever laughter
Is best to keep us fit;
To shake hands with privation
When face to face with it.
To give without complaining
Or boasting what we give;
To make this world a safer world
For those who have to live!
To part with old traditions
That hampered in the past;
To see that heart-wrung "aliens"
As enemies aren't classed,
But treated--while deserving it--
As human beings, too;
* * * * *
Just to _be clean_--in mind and soul--
That's _all_ we have to do!