TO my fellow sinners all, who, in hope and doubt, <br />Through the Commonwealth to-night watch the Old Year out, <br />New Year’s Resolutions are jerry-built I know, <br />But I want to say to you, “Give yourselves a show”. <br /> <br />You who drink for drinking’s sake, love for lust alone, <br />Thinking heaven is a myth and the world your own— <br />Dancing gaily down to hell in the devil’s dance— <br />This I have to say to you: “Give your souls a chance”. <br /> <br />You who drink because of shame that you think will last, <br />Or because of wrong done you—trouble in the past— <br />“Nothing left to live for now,” you will say, I know; <br />But you have your own self yet, give that self a show! <br /> <br />You who want all things on earth—money, love, and fame <br />Having the advantage of worldly place or name— <br />You who have more than you want, even than you know, <br />In the glorious New Year give someone else a show. <br /> <br />You, the mischief-makers all, who in secret glee <br />Love to tell the villainies of a scamp like me; <br />There are things he’ll never tell—things you’ll never know— <br />Look into your own lives first—give the man a show. <br /> <br />You, the politician, who, for jealousy or gold, <br />Or for mean ambition, sell, or see your country sold, <br />Pandering to the hollow crowd, toadying to the low, <br />For shame’s sake banish selfishness—give your land a show.<br /><br />Henry Lawson<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/give-yourself-a-show-new-year-s-eve/
