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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


MY WAGE by JESSIE BELL RITTENHOUSE

First Line: I BARGAINED WITH LIFE FOR A PENNY
Last Line: LIFE WOULD HAVE PAID.

I BARGAINED with Life for a penny,
And Life would pay no more,
However I begged at evening
When I counted my scanty store;

For Life is a just employer,
He gives you what you ask,
But once you have set the wages,
Why, you must bear the task.

I worked for a menial's hire,
Only to learn, dismayed,
That any wage I had asked of Life,
Life would have paid.



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