Page:Backblock Ballads and Later Verses (C.J. Dennis, 1918).djvu/110

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Once upon a time, a slave Had an impulse to behave In a most unprecedented sort of style. He threw down his tools, and cried That he wasn't satisfied, And all slavery was barbarous and vile. (They probably boiled him in oil; but that's merely incidental.)

Once again, a man who rode In a coach disliked the mode Of that locomotion. 'Twas too slow by far. He was filled with discontent; So he—or some other—went And, in course of time, evolved the motor-car. And, if you've ever had one scare seven devils out of you, you'll know it for a very great invention. So, observe, this discontent To mankind is wisely sent That he may be urged along to conquer new things, They who were quite satisfied, Like the Dinosaurus, died, While the discontented anthropoids still do things. And continue to be discontented, of course; but that's all in the game.