The Workman's Friend -- Flann O'Brien

Guest poem submitted by Jeff Berndt:

(Poem #1300) The Workman's Friend When things go wrong and will not come right, Though you do the best you can, When life looks black as the hour of night - A PINT OF PLAIN IS YOUR ONLY MAN. When money's tight and hard to get And your horse has also ran, When all you have is a heap of debt - A PINT OF PLAIN IS YOUR ONLY MAN. When health is bad and your heart feels strange, And your face is pale and wan, When doctors say you need a change, A PINT OF PLAIN IS YOUR ONLY MAN. When food is scarce and your larder bare And no rashers grease your pan, When hunger grows as your meals are rare - A PINT OF PLAIN IS YOUR ONLY MAN. In time of trouble and lousy strife, You have still got a darlint plan You still can turn to a brighter life - A PINT OF PLAIN IS YOUR ONLY MAN. -- Flann O'Brien

written under the psudonym "Brian O'Nolan".

I heard this poem in Dublin some years back and it stuck with me in
spirit if not in letter.  Only recently have I come across a print copy
in its entirety, which isn't too surprising in that I was told it was
written by Brendan Behan, which it isn't. I thought you might enjoy it
and consider it for use as a guest poem sometime.

It's from a novel called "At Swim Two Birds". Here's another quote from
the novel: "There's one thing in that pome, permanence, if you know what
I mean. That pome, I mean to say, is a pome that'll be heard wherever
the Irish race is wont to gather, it'll live as long as there's a hard
root of an Irishman left by the Almighty on this planet, mark my words."

Other works by Flann O'Brien include:
        The Dalkey Archive
        The Hard Life: An Exegesis of Squalor
        The Third Policeman
        An Béal Bocht (The Poor Mouth)

(I haven't read them.)

More info about O'Brien and his works can be found at
        http://www.hellshaw.com/flann/index.html

All the best,
Jeff Berndt.