Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, NO CHANCE, by WALT MASON


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

NO CHANCE, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: The man who never had a chance, the victim
Last Line: Same old whine—because he hadn't any spine.
Subject(s): Family Life; Men; Pity; Relatives


THE man who never had a chance, the victim of fell circumstance, who ne'er was
Johnnie-on-the-spot—how sad and pitiful his lot! He had two hands, as good

as those of t'other chap, who bravely rose to affluence and high renown, and was

a credit to the town. He had two legs, without a flaw; two smoother legs I never

saw, and had he used them wisely well, they might have made him—who can
tell? He had two eyes, two ears, a nose, the usual array of toes, a dome on
which to wear his hats, a liver and a set of slats, and whiskers till we
couldn't rest; the whole equipment he possessed, by which the human tribes
advance, and yet, he says, he had no chance. The wolf was always at his door; he

had no tick at any store, his wife did washing every day, to buy the hungry
children hay. He had a wishbone and a lung, a solar plexus and a tongue, he had

two kidneys and a wart, and vital organs by the quart; and yet he raised the
same old whine—because he hadn't any spine.





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