When Trouble Comes Round

When Trouble comes round to give you a call,

     Pray how do you entertain Him?

Do you turn Him away in the morning gray,

     Or smile and try to detain Him?

Do you let Him convince you your case is severe,

     You’re an offspring of Sin and the Devil,

Or argue a bit with your wisdom and wit,

     And meet Him upon His own level?

For Trouble is sure to knock at your door

     Today or tonight or tomorrow;

He likes to go round when a heart may be bound

     To saturate full of His sorrow;

Of course there is trouble you cannot laugh down,

     But more than three quarters is folly;

And I would advise you to hold yourself wise

     And give him a generous jolly.

March 13, 1901