Classic Poem

When I had a hundred a year,
I led a most leisurely life;
All work I would shun, as I sat in the sun,
Where I whittled a stick with a knife.
In youth I was lazy and idle, I fear,
When I had a hundred, a hundred a year!

When I had five hundred a year,
My labours appeared to augment;
I rose with the lark, and would dress in the dark,
And by Tube to the City I went.
From eight to six-thirty I worked as cashier,
When I had five hundred, five hundred a year!

When I had a thousand a year,
More diligent daily I grew;
I would breakfast at nine (if the weather was fine),
And I stayed at the office till two.
The brainwork was heavy, the strain was severe,
When I had a thousand, a thousand a year!

When I had ten thousand a year,
No respite from toil I enjoyed;
I went to dull balls, and paid afternoon calls,
And shot grouse (for the poor Unemployed).
I hired an estate, with a park full of deer,
When I had ten thousand, ten thousand a year!

With seventy thousand a year,
My work ev'ry moment grows more;
I buy motor-cars, and I open bazaars,
And I struggle to fill up Form IV.
And oft I recall, with a sigh or a tear,
My leisurely life on a hundred a year!