You may matter quite a lot or not a bit, You may rank among the great or with the small, But this fact is undeniable, to wit, That you are not indispensable at all. When you've left it, life will somehow amble on In the busy, ever changing world of men, They will get along without you when you're gone, But—it's good to think they'll miss you, now and then. So, I'd rather be a comrade than a foe, And I'd rather be good-humored than a crab, And I'd rather give a handshake than a blow, And I'd rather @3earn@1 my living than to grab. For I'd like to think that anyhow a few Will be sorry when my summons comes to quit; They will get along without me when I'm through But I'd like to have 'em miss me—just a bit. No, they needn't talk about my "Vacant Chair" But at parties where I often used to be, I should like to have 'em wishing I were there, I should like to have 'em talk a bit of me As a chap who wasn't bad to have around, As a fellow that was rather nice to know; They will get along when I am underground But—I'd like to have 'em miss me when I go. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...LOCKED OUT; AS TOLD TO A CHILD by ROBERT FROST DEAD LEAVES by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON JILTED by PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR THAT NATURE IS A HERACLITEAN FIRE & OF THE COMFORT OF THE RESURRECTION by GERARD MANLEY HOPKINS WEARINESS by HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW THE RAJPOOT WIFE by EDWIN ARNOLD THE CONTRAST BETWEEN TWO LORDS AT THEIR EXECUTION by JOHN BYROM PROVERBIAL PHILOSOPHY: OF READING by CHARLES STUART CALVERLEY |