The World’s Living

“The world owes me a living”,

     The young man said one day;

“Why should I have misgiving,

     As, strolling on my way

Through life, I would collect it,

     ‘Tis ever due, to date;

The world and all expect it,

     Why should I hesitate?”

“The world owes me a living,”

     He cried from day to day;

“I hope to feel its giving

     Before I pass away.”

And yet old age o’ertook him,

     Devoid of meat and bread;

Friends died, or else forsook him,

     And he was numbered, dead.

The world owes not a living

     To any human soul;

It is the mortal striving

     Who comes anear the goal.

‘Tis only wise endeavor

     That nails your colors fast;

Ambition is the lever

     That raises you at last.

Dec. 16, ‘09