Mr Upstart Poem by Francis Duggan

He was quickly climbing success ladder
He wanted to reach to the top
He hissed his way up like an adder
And he never intended to drop.

For the working class he had no pity
Although he himself once was poor
He looked on the poor of the city
As one would on rats in a sewer.

The upper classes he befriended
His erstwhile friends he did not want to know
His business like brain had transcended
Him above poverty and woe.

This man whom they nick named Mr Upstart
In a short time had come a long way
His success it caused him to depart
From those he had known yesterday.

The most of those well used of riches
On poorer souls seldom look down
It's the man who rose from torn britches
That carries the 'who but me' crown.

It's hard from a humble beginning
To scale the heights of success wall
It's hard to keep climbing and winning
And it's easier by far to fall.

The Earth's richest people have blundered
And from the top fell to the ground
And after they've wondered and wondered
What caused them to come crashing down.

It takes a man in a billion
A genius with money making skill
To make a thousand make a million
And stay atop the success hill.

Last month Mr Upstart was flying
But now the poor fellow is broke
Today Mr Upstart is sighing
He hasn't the price of a smoke.

The poor man has no one to turn to
His rich friends now give him the snub
And the working class people he once knew
Will not have him back in their club.

There is a moral in this story
If you be poor and come rich one day
Don't take too much pride in your glory
From your old friends do not turn away.