The Joy Of Being Poor Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: A BBCCDDEECCFFAAGH A IIAAJKLLMMNNGH A OOCCPPQQRSBBTTUU VVWWXXGH| I | A |
| - | |
| Let others sing of gold and gear the joy of being rich | B |
| But oh the days when I was poor a vagrant in a ditch | B |
| When every dawn was like a gem so radiant and rare | C |
| And I had but a single coat and not a single care | C |
| When I would feast right royally on bacon bread and beer | D |
| And dig into a stack of hay and doze like any peer | D |
| When I would wash beside a brook my solitary shirt | E |
| And though it dried upon my back I never took a hurt | E |
| When I went romping down the road contemptuous of care | C |
| And slapped Adventure on the back by Gad we were a pair | C |
| When though my pockets lacked a coin and though my coat was old | F |
| The largess of the stars was mine and all the sunset gold | F |
| When time was only made for fools and free as air was I | A |
| And hard I hit and hard I lived beneath the open sky | A |
| When all the roads were one to me and each had its allure | G |
| Ye Gods these were the happy days the days when I was poor | H |
| - | |
| II | A |
| - | |
| Or else again old pal of mine do you recall the times | I |
| You struggled with your storyettes I wrestled with my rhymes | I |
| Oh we were happy were we not we used to live so high | A |
| A little bit of broken roof between us and the sky | A |
| Upon the forge of art we toiled with hammer and with tongs | J |
| You told me all your rippling yarns I sang to you my songs | K |
| Our hats were frayed our jackets patched our boots were down at heel | L |
| But oh the happy men were we although we lacked a meal | L |
| And if I sold a bit of rhyme or if you placed a tale | M |
| What feasts we had of tenderloins and apple tarts and ale | M |
| And yet how often we would dine as cheerful as you please | N |
| Beside our little friendly fire on coffee bread and cheese | N |
| We lived upon the ragged edge and grub was never sure | G |
| But oh these were the happy days the days when we were poor | H |
| - | |
| III | A |
| - | |
| Alas old man we're wealthy now it's sad beyond a doubt | O |
| We cannot dodge prosperity success has found us out | O |
| Your eye is very dull and drear my brow is creased with care | C |
| We realize how hard it is to be a millionaire | C |
| The burden's heavy on our backs you're thinking of your rents | P |
| I'm worrying if I'll invest in five or six per cents | P |
| We've limousines and marble halls and flunkeys by the score | Q |
| We play the part but say old chap oh isn't it a bore | Q |
| We work like slaves we eat too much we put on evening dress | R |
| We've everything a man can want I think but happiness | S |
| Come let us sneak away old chum forget that we are rich | B |
| And earn an honest appetite and scratch an honest itch | B |
| Let's be two jolly garreteers up seven flights of stairs | T |
| And wear old clothes and just pretend we aren't millionaires | T |
| And wonder how we'll pay the rent and scribble ream on ream | U |
| And sup on sausages and tea and laugh and loaf and dream | U |
| - | |
| And when we're tired of that my friend oh you will come with me | V |
| And we will seek the sunlit roads that lie beside the sea | V |
| We'll know the joy the gipsy knows the freedom nothing mars | W |
| The golden treasure gates of dawn the mintage of the stars | W |
| We'll smoke our pipes and watch the pot and feed the crackling fire | X |
| And sing like two old jolly boys and dance to heart's desire | X |
| We'll climb the hill and ford the brook and camp upon the moor | G |
| Old chap let's haste I'm mad to taste the Joy of Being Poor | H |
Robert Service
(1)
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