Despite the light, casual tone of the poem, the narrator seems to berate Old Fritz for being "nailed to your own rapacious, stiff self-will." The seven months of care were a waste, it didn't help anyone "to throw our good lives after bad," and meanwhile "strong / men starve." Yet, in the final two lines there is an astonishing change of tone: "No. We'd still have to help you try. We would / have killed for you today." It's not just the duty to do his job. The narrator shifts the entire focus so that the whole dying process can also be seen as a matter of loyalty, respect, and care.