It'sGotTo Be

"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!"