Classic and Contemporary Poetry
IT'S GOT TO BE, by JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: When it's got to be,' - like I always say Last Line: "as I say ""good-by! -- good-by!" Alternate Author Name(s): Johnson Of Boone, Benj. F. Subject(s): Death; Life; Past; Dead, The | ||||||||
"WHEN it's got to be," -- like I always say, As I notice the years whiz past, And know each day is a yesterday, When we size it up, at last, -- Same as I said when my boyhood went And I knowed we had to quit, -- "It's got to be, and it's goin' to be!" -- So I said "Good-by" to it. It's got to be, and it's goin' to be! So at least I always try To kind o' say in a hearty way, -- "Well, it's got to be. Good-by!" The time just melts like a late, last snow, -- When it's got to be, it melts! But I aim to keep a cheerful mind, Ef I can't keep nothin' else! I knowed, when I come to twenty-one, That I'd soon be twenty-two, -- So I waved one hand at the soft young man, And I said, "Good-by to you!" It's got to be, and it's goin' to be! So at least I always try To kind o' say, in a cheerful way, -- "Well, it's got to be. -- Good-by!" They kep' a-goin', the years and years, Yet still I smiled and smiled, -- For I'd said "Good-by" to my single life, And now had a wife and child: Mother and son and the father -- one, -- Till, last, on her bed of pain, She jes' smiled up, like she always done, -- And I said "Good-by" again. It's got to be, and it's goin' to be! So at least I always try To kind o' say, in a humble way, -- "Well, it's got to be. Good-by!" And then my boy -- as he growed to be Almost a man in size, -- Was more than a pride and joy to me, With his mother's smilin' eyes. -- He gimme the slip, when the War broke out, And followed me. And I Never knowed till the first fight's end . . . I found him, and then, . . . "Good-by." It's got to be, and it's goin' to be! So at least I always try To kind o' say, in a patient way, "Well, it's got to be. Good-by!" I have said, "Good-by! -- Good-by! -- Good-by!" With my very best good will, All through life from the first, -- and I Am a cheerful old man still: But it's got to end, and it's goin' to end! And this is the thing I'll do, -- With my last breath I will laugh, O Death, And say "Good-by" to you! . . . It's got to be! And again I say, -- When his old scythe circles high, I'll laugh -- of course, in the kindest way, -- As I say "Good-by! -- Good-by!" | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...A FRIEND KILLED IN THE WAR by ANTHONY HECHT FOR JAMES MERRILL: AN ADIEU by ANTHONY HECHT TARANTULA: OR THE DANCE OF DEATH by ANTHONY HECHT CHAMPS D?ÇÖHONNEUR by ERNEST HEMINGWAY NOTE TO REALITY by TONY HOAGLAND A BOY'S MOTHER by JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY |
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