Humble jobs are not to be despised

At the general meeting we were met,

Nothing pleased you more than selling flowers,

While I was glad enough to be a doorman,

Nothing less pretentious than our work,

And yet our eyes brimmed full with so much joy,

For we had a sense of ardent labor,

On behalf of the national party, not to be sneezed at;

Work however humble it appears,

Is not to be despised when it’s for your country.

We feel we’ve earned the very same deserts

By giving our life’s work to future greatness;

Our heart leaps up in just the same degree:

The efforts that we make are worth the same.

Armijn Pane
tr. after Damais