Poem by Unknown - "Rise Above the Circumstances"

Old Jim had been a faithful horse,
    But he was growing old,
So Uncle Lem made up his mind
    The horse should not be sold.

But turned out in the pasture land
    To roam and feed at will,
Or rest beneath the shady trees,
    Down by the waters still.

Lem loved his faithful servant Jim
    And watched him day by day,
And when he whistled to the horse,
    Jim gave an answering neigh.

One day the horse had disappeared,
    So Lem went out to see
What had become of faithful Jim ---
    Where could the creature be?

Lem thought of an abandoned well
    Which had uncovered been;
He hurried down the path to see;
    Yes, Jim had fallen in!

If he should try to pull him out
    A leg might broken be
So he would go and get his gun
    And end Jim’s misery.

Lem brought the gun but couldn’t bear
    To shoot old faithful Jim,
So brought a shovel and a pick
    With which to bury him.

Lem took a shovel full of dirt
    And rolled it in the well,
It slid down on the horse’s back
    And to the bottom fell.

As fast as every load was sent
    The horse would stamp it down,
And as they both thus worked away
    At last the well was gone!

Out jumped the horse, all whole and sound
    Kicked up his heels and ran,
Let’s get from out this simple tale
    A moral, if we can.

When people try to crush us down,
    And cover us with dirt,
Let’s stamp if underneath our feet,
    And never let it hurt.

Let’s be like Jim and rise above
    The troubles that beset,
If we are on the side of right,
    We’ll gain the victory yet.