This poet must have been obsessed with the work ethic, because he actually wrote TWO poems with the same title and theme. This one was published around 1911. Again, I inserted line breaks:


THE GOOD WORKMAN
Walt Mason

I hired a toiler whose name was John
To come with his weapons and mow my lawn,
For long green whiskers were growing there;
It badly needed some tender care.
And John arrived at the break of day,
And whittled grass in a cheerful way;
The job was fierce, for the weeds had grown,
And the dog had scattered some chunks of bone,
But John, he labored to beat the band,
And shaved that lawn with a master hand.

He named his price when the work was o'er,
And I gladly coughed up a quarter more.
And, whenever I find that my lawn is due
For a good, clean shave or a dry shampoo,
I'll hunt up John, if he's still on earth,
And pay him more than the job is worth.
I will hunt up John if I have to trot
From the court house clear to the dumping spot,
For he does his work as a workman should,
And does not quit until he finds it good.

The streets are haunted by shiftless men,
Who seek employment and seek again;
They say that jobs are as hard to find
As pearls of price in a melon rind;
Their hopes are hazy, their chances gone—
For most employers are hunting John!

* * *
[A line in The Chautauquan said: "Walt Mason's 'Lineless Rhymes from Kansas,' which are as wholesome in tone as they are certain to bring a smile, appear in two hundred daily newspapers with a combined circulation of ten million readers."]