Page:The Seven Seas (Kipling, 1896).djvu/181

Rh But, Gawd, what things are they I 'aven't done?

I've turned my 'and to most, an' turned it good,

In various situations round the world—

For 'im that doth not work must surely die;

But that's no reason man should labour all

'Is life on one same shift; life's none so long.

Therefore, from job to job I've moved along.

Pay couldn't 'old me when my time was done,

For something in my 'ead upset me all,

Till I 'ad dropped whatever 'twas for good,

An', out at sea, be'eld the dock-lights die,

An' met my mate—the wind that tramps the world!

It's like a book, I think, this bloomin' world,

Which you can read and care for just so long,

But presently you feel that you will die

Unless you get the page you're readin' done,

An' turn another—likely not so good;

But what you're after is to turn 'em all.

Gawd bless this world! Whatever she 'ath done—

Excep' when awful long—I've found it good.

So write, before I die, ' ' E liked it all!'