(@3Suggested by a story of Jack London@1) It ain't the kid that's sittin' over there Who has me scared. He's, young and strong all right, But all I gotta do is box with care And I can come out winner in this fight. No, it ain't him I'm worryin' about, It's something in his corner that I see; Something I know—an' know beyond a doubt Is lurkin' there an' waitin' there for me. Why, ever since the day I won the belt (That's five years, now) I've seen it every time That I have fought; an' though at first I felt Like sneerin' at it—bein' in my prime— Each bout I see it clearer than it's been, An' some day some young feller's gonna crawl Between the ropes—an' he'll be It—an' then There'll be another Champion, that's all! What is it that I see? Why, bo, it's Youth! Youth with the punch, the vigor an' the zest. It's bound to come, I gotta face the truth. An' when it does, though I may fight my best, Use all my skill an' cunnin', clinch an' hold; It's gonna rock me, close my swimmin' lamps, An' then, the knock-out; me a-lyin' cold An' Youth announced the Champ of all the Champs. For I was Youth when I jumped into fame An' put the other champion on the shelf, And this I know, because I know the game; It's Youth will slip the same thing to myself! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...TO A FRIEND WRITING ON CABARET DANCERS by EZRA POUND ROAST LEVIATHAN by LOUIS UNTERMEYER MOTLEY: THE GHOST by WALTER JOHN DE LA MARE THE BATTLE OF CHARLESTON HARBOR by PAUL HAMILTON HAYNE A DROP OF DEW by ANDREW MARVELL PEARLS OF THE FAITH: 44. ALLAH-AL-RAKIB by EDWIN ARNOLD SONNETS OF MANHOOD: 9. WHEN by GEORGE BARLOW (1847-1913) VERSES TO -- --, ON THE FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF THEIR MARRIAGE by BERNARD BARTON |