Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

TIMES AIN'T WHAT THEY WAS, by                    
First Line: When pa an' ma was married in the days long gone and dead
Last Line: An' boys an' girls grow bigger - an' I'm glad to see the day
Subject(s): Family Life;modern Man;time;west (u.s.); Relatives;southwest;pacific States


WHEN pa an' ma was married in the days long gone and dead;
The neighbors sorter run the house — Mis' Grundy was the law,
When pa felt kinder bilious, the ol' wood pile in the shed
Was what he mostly needed, and he useter go an' saw;
An' ma kep' busy knittin', makin' clothes an' bread an' pies,
An' Sis helped with the dishes an' the baby an' the rest,
An' Bub — that's me — did choring, early bed an' early rise;
The family was sleepin' when the sun was in the west.

I got a fam'ly now 'f my own, built on a diff'runt plan:
A gas bill once a month instead o' that ol' hickory pile;
Now when I wanter exercise, I take the hired man —
He'll do me for a caddy — an' I play my golf in style;
An' mother — she 'n'the hired help jest started off on a wheel,
While sister whacks at tennis — tendin' baby ain't her song.
An' brother rows and kicks and swims, his muscle is like steel,
They ain't no chores to keep him down — he's too bejiggered strong!

I dunno what the baby does, but sorter 'spect the nurse
Goes sprintin' with policemen when she takes him out to walk.
He certainly is lookin' 's if he oughter come in firs' —
He's singin' coon songs long before he's old enough to talk;
Them good ol' times wan't none too good — they knew no better then,
To work was pious an' 't was always wickedness to play;
But now our women's stronger an' we're better lookin' men,
An' boys an' girls grow bigger — an' I'm glad to see the day.





Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!


Other Poems of Interest...
Home: PoetryExplorer.net