Part 5 (2/2)

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IT'S _GOT_ TO BE

”When it's _got_ to be,”--like! always say, As I notice the years whiz past, And know each day is a yesterday, When we size it up, at last,-- Same as I said when my _boyhood_ went And I knowed _we_ had to quit,-- ”It's _got_ to be, and it's _goin'_ to be!”-- So I said ”Good-by” to _it_.

It's _got_ to be, and it's _goin'_ to be!

So at least I always try To kind o' say in a hearty way,-- ”Well, it's _got_ to be. Good-by!”

The time jes melts like a late, last snow,-- When it's _got_ to be, it melts!

But I aim to keep a cheerful mind, Ef I can't keep nothin' else!

I knowed, when I come to twenty-one, That I'd soon be twenty-two,-- So I waved one hand at the soft young man, And I said, ”Good-by to _you_!”

It's _got_ to be, and it's _goin'_ to be!

So at least I always try To kind o' say, in a cheerful way,-- ”Well, it's _got_ to be.--Good-by!”

They kep' a-goin', the years and years, Yet still I smiled and smiled,-- For I'd said ”Good-by” to my single life, And I now had a wife and child: Mother and son and the father--one,-- Till, last, on her bed of pain, She jes' smiled up, like she always done,-- And I said ”Good-by” again.

It's _got_ to be, and it's _goin'_ to be!

So at least I always try To kind o' say, in a humble way,-- ”Well, it's _got_ to be. Good-by!”

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And then my boy--as he growed to be Almost a man in size,-- Was more than a pride and joy to me, With his mother's smilin' eyes.-- He gimme the slip, when the War broke out, And followed me. And I Never knowed till the first right's end ...

I found him, and then, ... ”Good-by.”

It's _got_ to be, and it's _goin'_ to be!

So at least I always try To kind o' say, in a patient way, ”Well, it's _got_ to be. Good-by!”

I have said, ”Good-by!--Good-by!--Good-by!”

With my very best good will, All through life from the first,--and I Am a cheerful old man still:

But it's _got_ to end, and it's _goin'_ to end!

And this is the thing I'll do,-- With my last breath I will laugh, O Death, And say ”Good-by” to _you_!...

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