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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


DON'T BE DOWN-HEARTED (A PHILOSOPHIC POME) by BERTON BRALEY

First Line: WHEN THE WORLD IS EXTREMELY UNPLEASANT
Last Line: THEN IT WILL TAKE A TURN FOR THE WORSE!
Subject(s): FUTURE; HOPE; LUCK; OPTIMISM;

When the world is extremely unpleasant
And everything's gone to the bad,
Don't dwell on the cares of the present,
But look to the future, my lad.
Don't sit like a whiner and fretter
When luck seems to be in reverse,
For it may take a turn for the better
If it don't take a turn for the worse!

Cheer up! Be a Regular Booster.
Chirk up! Be a Stoic—and smile.
Brace up! be as brave as a rooster.
Head up! Luck will change in a while;
Buck up! Break despondency's fetter
Though now your hard luck makes you curse;
If it don't take a change for the better
Why, it may take a change for the worse!

So never mind trouble and sorrow
Or anything Fate may arrange.
Next week—or it may be to-morrow,
There may be a radical change!
You may get a check in a letter
Or you may graft a ride in a hearse;
If your luck doesn't turn for the better
Then it will take a turn for the worse!



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