We are done with little thinking and we're done with little deeds, <br />We are done with petty conduct and we're done with narrow creeds; <br />We have grown to men and women, and we've noble work to do, <br />And to-day we are a people with a larger point of view. <br />In a big way we must labor, if our Flag shall always fly. <br />In a big way some must suffer, in a big way some must die. <br />There must be no little dreaming in the visions that we see, <br />There must be no selfish planning in the joys that are to be; <br />We have set our faces eastwards to the rising of the sun <br />That shall light a better nation, and there's big work to be done. <br />And the petty souls and narrow, seeking only selfish gain, <br />Shall be vanquished by the toilers big enough to suffer pain. <br />It's a big task we have taken; 'tis for others we must fight. <br />We must see our duty clearly in a white and shining light; <br />We must quit our little circles where we've moved in little ways, <br />And work, as men and women, for the bigger. better days. <br />We must quit our selfish thinking and our narrow views and creeds, <br />And as people, big and splendid, We must do the bigger deeds.<br /><br />Edgar Albert Guest<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-big-deeds/
