I struggled with mine till the midnight hour;
My head was that of a fool;
My losses and gains, they’re beyond my power,
And never the like was, in school.
That minus sign was ever my foe
From earliest years until now;
My modest income, and varied out-go—
O they must be figured somehow!
I’ll tell you the truth, in the fear of the Lord,
I worried and went “sick abed;”