Chant Royal Of The Tramp Royal
Stranger, I thank you, now I've cleaned my plate;
It's fine of you to feed a wanderin' guy
That happens to be knockin' at yer gate
Weary an' faint, without a cent to buy.
That grub has braced me up. I'm gettin' gray,
An' can't fast like when I was gay
An' careless youngster, crammed with energy,
Who swaggered down the road in careless glee
In days that's gone an' passed beyond recall,
When I set out an' cried back recklessly,
"The world is wide an' I ain't seen it all!"
I worked at many jobs, an' some was straight
An' some was crooked as a crooked lie,
An' yet no place could hold me, soon or late
I'd shake its dust; fer somethin' in the sky
Er in the winds kept callin' me. Say
When once you hear those voices thataway,
There ain't no promise an' there ain't no fee
Kin hold you quiet, you are out of key
With home-kept folk, your job begins to pall!
An' so I'd quit, with this my only plea,
"The world is wide an' I ain't seen it all!"
At first my road ran only State to State,
City to city when the pay was high;
I'd beat my way by passenger er freight;
There wasn't much that missed my eager eye.
But when I see a vessel where she lay
Along the dock in San Francisco Bay
I shipped aboard her, longin' fer to flee
To strange, far lands of myth an' mystery.
An' though the life would make yer flesh to crawl,
I learned a lot--but still my cry must be,
"The world is wide an' I ain't seen it all!"
To keep on goin' was my restless fate.
I couldn't quit an' didn't care to try;
Fer there was things to view both small an' great;
Lands where you freeze an' countries where you fry,
Deserts like brass an' islands drenched in spray,
Queer, hidden places where the pilgrims stray,
An' men an' women, Malay an' Chinese,
Christian an' heathen, high an' low degree,
Fightin' an' lovin' on this "earthly ball,"
What wonder I obeyed my youth's decree,
"The world is wide an' I ain't seen it all!"
Yes, there was women wanted me to wait,
But I--I heard the voice that drowned their cry;
It's not for me to settle down an' mate,
The wander fever's got me till I die.
Soft hands might clutch me, but I couldn't stay,
There was the road to go, the game to play!
An' though the children clamber on my knee
To hear my tales, there's none belongs to me,
No that will lift me kindly when I fall.
All that I have is life--an' liberty!
"The world is wide an' I ain't seen it all!"
Envoy
Stranger, my thanks an' best regards to ye,
Fer kindness an' a welcome warm an' free.
But--there's the road, I can't shake off its thrall,
An' there's so far to go--so much to see;
"The world is wide an' I ain't seen it all!"
---
|