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James Whitcomb Riley - It`s_Got_To Be
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"When it`s _got_ to be,"--like! always say,
  As I notice the years whiz past,
And know each day is a yesterday,
  When we size it up, at last,--
Same as I said when my _boyhood_ went
  And I knowed _we_ had to quit,--
"It`s _got_ to be, and it`s _goin`_ to be!"--
  So I said "Good-by" to _it_.

It`s _got_ to be, and it`s _goin`_ to be!
  So at least I always try
To kind o` say in a hearty way,--
    "Well, it`s _got_ to be. Good-by!"

The time jes melts like a late, last snow,--
  When it`s _got_ to be, it melts!
But I aim to keep a cheerful mind,
  Ef I can`t keep nothin` else!
I knowed, when I come to twenty-one,
  That I`d soon be twenty-two,--
So I waved one hand at the soft young man,
  And I said, "Good-by to _you_!"

It`s _got_ to be, and it`s _goin`_ to be!
  So at least I always try
To kind o` say, in a cheerful way,--
    "Well, it`s _got_ to be.--Good-by!"

They kep` a-goin`, the years and years,
  Yet still I smiled and smiled,--
For I`d said "Good-by" to my single life,
  And I now had a wife and child:
Mother and son and the father--one,--
  Till, last, on her bed of pain,
She jes` smiled up, like she always done,--
  And I said "Good-by" again.

It`s _got_ to be, and it`s _goin`_ to be!
  So at least I always try
To kind o` say, in a humble way,--
  "Well, it`s _got_ to be. Good-by!"

And then my boy--as he growed to be
  Almost a man in size,--
Was more than a pride and joy to me,
  With his mother`s smilin` eyes.--
He gimme the slip, when the War broke out,
  And followed me. And I
Never knowed till the first right`s end ...
  I found him, and then, ... "Good-by."

It`s _got_ to be, and it`s _goin`_ to be!
  So at least I always try
To kind o` say, in a patient way,
  "Well, it`s _got_ to be. Good-by!"

I have said, "Good-by!--Good-by!--Good-by!"
  With my very best good will,
All through life from the first,--and I
  Am a cheerful old man still:

But it`s _got_ to end, and it`s _goin`_ to end!
  And this is the thing I`ll do,--
With my last breath I will laugh, O Death,
  And say "Good-by" to _you_!...

It`s _got_ to be! And again I say,--
  When his old scythe circles high,
I`ll laugh--of course, in the kindest way,--
  As I say "Good-by!--Good-by!"
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