The Two Brothers

There were twin brothers, we are told,
Whose mother at their hour of birth
To satisfy some curious whim,
Gave them the oddest names on earth.

She named one Can, the other, Can’t,
And, lest confusion might be made,
She stamped their names upon their breasts.
In letters that would never fade.

Time passed; Can was a wondrous man,
God-like in every thought and deed.
And somehow everything he touched
Straightway would prosper and succeed.

Can’t was the victim of bad luck.
And failed at everything he tried;
‘Till finally, the story goes,
Bad luck assailed him and he died.

O mothers of the sons of men,
O mothers of the race to be.
Stamp only Can upon their breasts;
Stamp deep that all the world may see!