Classic Poem

“WHEN it's got to be,”—like I 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 just 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 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!”

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 fight'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! . . .
It's got to be! And again I say,—
 When his old scythe circles high,
I'll laugh—of course, in the kindest way,—
 As I say “Good-by!—Good-by!”