The Boy Who Didn’t Pass

From the Grand Forks Daily Herald, August 20, 1914.

It’s getting cooler weather,
    The summer is nearly done.
I’ve had a lot of pleasure,
    A great big heap of fun.
But school days soon are coming,
    And nearly here, alas!
And I’m that little lunk-head,
    The boy who didn’t pass.

I told my daddy about it,
    He only shook his head.
I showed my card to mother.
    “It’s just a shame,” she said.
But grandma cried, “Poor laddie,
    You’ll hate to miss your class.”
Then, teary-eyed, she kissed me,
    The boy who didn’t pass.

September’s like an ogre
    That’s coming pretty soon.
I didn’t feel so dreadful
    Last summer when ’twas June.
But life has lost its roses,
    There’s only rue and grass
And prickly thistles waiting
    For the boy who didn’t pass.