Ain't no use as I can see <br /> In sittin' underneath a tree <br /> An' growlin' that your luck is bad, <br /> An' that your life is extry sad; <br /> Your life ain't sadder than your neighbor's <br /> Nor any harder are your labors; <br /> It rains on him the same as you, <br /> An' he has work he hates to do; <br /> An' he gits tired an' he gits cross, <br /> An' he has trouble with the boss; <br /> You take his whole life, through an' through, <br /> Why, he's no better off than you. <br /> <br /> If whinin' brushed the clouds away <br /> I wouldn't have a word to say; <br /> If it made good friends out o' foes <br /> I'd whine a bit, too, I suppose; <br /> But when I look around an' see <br /> A lot o' men resemblin' me, <br /> An' see 'em sad, an' see 'em gay <br /> With work t' do most every day, <br /> Some full o' fun, some bent with care, <br /> Some havin' troubles hard to bear, <br /> I reckon, as I count my woes, <br /> They're 'bout what everybody knows. <br /> <br /> The day I find a man who'll say <br /> He's never known a rainy day, <br /> Who'll raise his right hand up an' swear <br /> In forty years he's had no care, <br /> Has never had a single blow, <br /> An' never known one touch o' woe, <br /> Has never seen a loved one die, <br /> Has never wept or heaved a sigh, <br /> Has never had a plan go wrong, <br /> But allas laughed his way along; <br /> Then I'll sit down an' start to whine <br /> That all the hard luck here is mine.<br /><br />Edgar Albert Guest<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/hard-luck/
