Poem by Alfred Edward Housman

A Shropshire Lad. 24. Say, Lad, Have You Things to Do?

Say, lad, have you things to do?
Quick then, while your day's at prime.
Quick, and if 'tis work for two,
Here am I man: now's your time.

Send me now, and I shall go;
Call me, I shall hear you call;
Use me ere they lay me low
Where a man's no use at all;

Ere the wholesome flesh decay
And the willing nerve be numb,
And the lips lack breath to say,
"No, my lad, I cannot come." 

1. More Poems. 15. Tarry, Delight; so Seldom Met
2. A Shropshire Lad. 34. The New Mistress
3. A Shropshire Lad. 17. Twice a Week the Winter Thorough
4. Additional Poems. 5. Here Are the Skies, the Planets Seven
5. More Poems. 25. Yon Flakes that Fret the Eastern Sky

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