Classic Poem

VERSE 1

" This life's a play, " said Shakespeare; they're the truest words he spoke.
Mister Shakespeare is a man I wish I'd met.
For I've seen enough of life to understand that it's a joke,
It's a joke and no one's guessed the answer yet.
Why, it's all imagination. If you'll only stop to think,
To this positive conclusion you'll arrive:
We live and then we die,
And when we die, why it's good-bye.
So we ought to all be glad that we're alive.

REFRAIN 1

I've seen a lot of sunshine, I've seen a lot of rain,
I've known a lot of happiness, I've known a lot of pain,
I've had a dozen fortunes, a dozen times been broke,
No matter how the winds may blow, I take it as a joke.
I've had a lot of worry, of fun I've had no ends,
I've made a lot of enemies, I've made a lot of friends.
No matter what may happen, whatever may befall,
I only know I'm mighty glad I'm living, and that's all.

VERSE 2

The man who takes life serious is an awful laugh with me,
Why, you'll dodge him if you see him on the street.
But the man who sees the funny side of ev'rything he'll see
Is the man that ev'rybody wants to meet.
Why, it's all just what you make it.
You can manufacture joy,
Or can find a lot of fault, that's if you try.
But a disposition bright and a corking appetite
Are two little things that bankrolls never buy.

REFRAIN 2

I never long for riches, I never long for fame,
I care not if posterity ignores or shouts my name.
I never envy Roosevelt, nor wish that I were he,
Just what I am and who I am, I'm satisfied to be.
The Pennsylvania Railroad, it isn't mine, and so
I care not if the stocks go up or down, or how they go.
I'm happy and I'm healthy, no doctors need to call,
And so I know I'm mighty glad I'm living, and that's all.