It’s easy to fight when everything’s right,

And you’re mad with the thrill and the glory;

It’s easy to cheer when victory is near,

And wallow in the fields that are gory.

It’s a different song when everything’s wrong,

When you’re feeling infernally mortal;

When it’s ten against one, and hope there is none,

Buck up, little soldier, and chortle:

And so in the strife of the battle of life

It’s easy to slave, and starve and be brave,

When the dawn of success is beginning.

But the man who can meet despair and defeat

With a cheer, there’s the man of God’s choosing;

The man who can fight to heaven’s own height

Is the man who can fight when he’s losing.

There are some who drift out in the deserts of doubt,

And some who in brutishness wallow;

There are others, I know, who in piety go

Because of a Heaven to follow.

But to labour with zest, and to give of your best,

For the sweetness and joy of the giving;

To help folks along with a hand and a song;

Why, there’s the real sunshine of living.

Carry on!  Carry on!

Fight the good fight and true;

Believe in your mission, greet life with a cheer;

There’s a big work to do, and that’s why you’re here.

Carry on!  Carry on!

Let the world be the better for you;

And at last when you die, let this by your cry:

Carry on, my soul!  Carry on!

-Robert W. Service, Rhymes of a Red Cross Man