Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THRIFTLESS, by WALT MASON


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THRIFTLESS, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: It's well to be sunny, and frisky and gay, if
Last Line: Heedless, the shiftless, the fellows who fail.
Subject(s): Saving And Thrift


IT'S well to be sunny, and frisky and gay, if one has some money in brine put
away; if we have the plunder where thieves cannot steal, it's surely no wonder
if chipper we feel. But some folks don't borrow an ounce weight of care, they
heed not tomorrow, when shelves may be bare. And, not a thought giving to what
may befall, "We'll live while we're living," they cheerily call; "eat, drink,
and be merry, tomorrow we die, and death with his wherry will soon paddle by."
And then when tomorrow comes trailing along, all loaded with sorrow and things
going wrong, the roysterers grumble and murmur and yelp, and send out a humble
petition for help. "Oh, come, come a-flying"—you've heard their old
tunes—"our children are crying for codfish and prunes! Be good to us,
neighbors, we need food and coal, and you, by your labors, have piled up a roll!

With hunger we sicken, we languish and die! Oh, bring us fried chicken and
pretzels and pie!" Each winter the thriftless send up the old wail, the
heedless, the shiftless, the fellows who fail.





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