All the Time

From the Evening Journal, April 2, 1915. By James Buckham.

There’s a prosy kind of motto that you’ll find is very rife
With the people you most envy for their rare success in life.
I’ll admit it’s not romantic, has no touch of the sublime,
But it’s just the rule to work by—namely, At it all the time.

You’ll observe that men and women, who, ’tis said, have made their mark
Do not drop the chalk of effort at the first approach of dark;
And you’ll find them at life’s blackboard when the sun begins to climb
For, obedient to their motto, they keep at it all the time.

The thing God sets them doing gets to be their chief delight;
’Tis their first thought in the morning, and their last concern at night.
They will turn away from pleasure just as promptly as from crime;
Simple duty is their safeguard, for they’re at it all the time.