When The First Teeth Go

It is infancy’s old age
When the first teeth go;
It’s the turning of the page
When the first teeth go;
It’s farewell to merry youth
With its innocence and truth,
With its tenderness and ruth,
When the first teeth go.
There are novelties of pain
When the first teeth go;
Quick to lose and slow to gain,
When the first teeth go;
Ugly vacancies appear,
New and lisping tones we bear
‘Tis a most erratic year
When the first teeth go.
Ah, the sober thoughts we think
When their first teeth go,
And the rising tears we wink
When their first teeth go!
For the coming teeth must chew
Many meals of bitter rue,
And their sorrows come in view
As their first teeth go.
Yes, but grand teeth come instead,
When the first teeth go,
Strong for meat and white for bread,
When the first teeth go;
Though the crust is hard and dry,
Health and power in it lie,
And there’s better by and by;
Let the first teeth go!