Part 16 (2/2)

And I knew, as well as any Roguish, healthy lad of ten, Mother really wasn't telling Truthful things to father then.

I knew I deserved the whipping, Knew that I'd been very bad, Knew that mother knew it also When she intervened with dad.

I knew that my recent illness Hadn't anything to do With the mischief I'd been up to, And I knew that mother knew.

But remembering my fever And my nervous temperament, Father put away the s.h.i.+ngle And postponed the sad event.

Now his mother, when I threaten Punishment for this and that, Calls to mind the dreary night hours When beside his bed we sat.

Comes and tells me that he's nervous, That's the reason he was bad, And the boy and doting mother Put it over on the dad.

Some day when he's grown as I am, With a boy on mischief bent, He will hear the timeworn story Of the nervous temperament.

And remembering the s.h.i.+ngle That aside I always threw, All I hope is that he'll let them Put it over on him, too.

As It Is

I might wish the world were better, I might sit around and sigh For a water that is wetter And a bluer sort of sky.

There are times I think the weather Could be much improved upon, But when taken altogether It's a good old world we're on.

I might tell how I would make it, But when I have had my say It is still my job to take it As it is, from day to day.

I might wish that men were kinder, And less eager after gold; I might wish that they were blinder To the faults they now behold.

And I'd try to make them gentle, And more tolerant in strife And a bit more sentimental O'er the finer things of life.

But I am not here to make them, Or to work in human clay; It is just my work to take them As they are from day to day.

Here's a world that suffers sorrow, Here are bitterness and pain, And the joy we plan to-morrow May be ruined by the rain.

Here are hate and greed and badness, Here are love and friends.h.i.+p, too, But the most of it is gladness When at last we've run it through.

Could we only understand it As we shall some distant day We should see that He who planned it Knew our needs along the way.

A Boy's Tribute

Prettiest girl I've ever seen Is Ma.

Lovelier than any queen Is Ma.

Girls with curls go walking by, Dainty, graceful, bold an' shy, But the one that takes my eye Is Ma.

Every girl made into one Is Ma.

Sweetest girl to look upon Is Ma.

Seen 'em short and seen 'em tall, Seen 'em big and seen 'em small, But the finest one of all Is Ma.

Best of all the girls on earth Is Ma.

One that all the rest is worth Is Ma.

<script>