We fancied he'd share in our cause. Instead, "There is nothing in it for me!" he said. He passed up pity and play and mirth And counted his time to the penny's worth. Ask for his help, and this would be His answer: "What is there in it for me?" Nothing it meant if you said: "In this Perhaps is friendship you'll some day miss. Here is a task that won't pay in gold, But will leave you prouder when you grow old. Though nothing for this will your purse collect, It will pay you richly in self-respect." "What is there in it for me?" he said. We mentioned pride, but he shook his head. "The joy of giving," he flicked his hand -- That he never could understand. And he found when life's last far bend was turned That money was all he had ever earned. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE ALTAR by EDWIN ARLINGTON ROBINSON AFFIRMATION by LOUIS UNTERMEYER A CHANNEL PASSAGE by RUPERT BROOKE LINES ON OBSERVING A BLOSSOM [ON THE FIRST OF FEBRUARY 1796] by SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE ASPATIA'S SONG, FR. THE MAID'S TRAEGDY by JOHN FLETCHER THE MOURNING GARMENT: THE DESCRIPTION OF THE SHEPHERD AND HIS WIFE by ROBERT GREENE |