Page:The Seven Seas (Kipling, 1896).djvu/180

 SESTINA OF THE TRAMP-ROYAL

' in general, I 'ave tried 'em all,

The 'appy roads that take you o'er the world.

Speakin' in general, I 'ave found them good

For such as cannot use one bed too long,

But must get 'ence, the same as I 'ave done,

An' go observin' matters till they die.

What do it matter where or 'ow we die,

So long as we've our 'ealth to watch it all—

The different ways that different things are done,

An' men an' women lovin' in this world—

Takin' our chances as they come along,

An' when they ain't, pretendin' they are good?

In cash or credit—no, it aren't no good;

You 'ave to 'ave the 'abit or you'd die,

Unless you lived your life but one day long,

Nor didn't prophesy nor fret at all,

But drew your tucker some'ow from the world,

An' never bothered what you might ha' done.

158