Be Hopeful

Be hopeful, friend, when clouds are dark and days are
   gloomy, dreary,
Be hopeful even when the heart is sick and sad and weary.
Be hopeful when it seems your plans are all opposed and
   thwarted;
Go not upon life's battlefield despondent and fainthearted.
And, friend, be hopeful of yourself. Do bygone follies haunt
   you?
Forget them and begin afresh. And let no hindrance daunt
   you.
Though unimportant your career may seem as you begin it,
Press on, for victory's ahead. Be hopeful, friend, and win it.

--Strickland Gillilan