Poems by Edgar Albert Guest

All Poems Original Poems Translations

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Results And Roses

The man who wants a garden fair,

Or small or very big,

With flowers growing here and there,

Must bend his back and dig.

The things are mighty few on earth

That wishes can attain.

Whate'er we want of any worth

We've got to work to gain.

Edgar Albert Guest

A Real Man

Men are of two kinds, and he

Was of the kind I'd like to be.

Some preach their virtues, and a few

Express their lives by what they do.

That sort was he. No flowery phrase

Or glibly spoken words of praise

Won friends for him. He wasn't cheap

Or shallow, but his course ran deep,

Edgar Albert Guest

Grandpa

My grandpa is the finest man

Excep' my pa. My grandpa can

Make kites an' carts an' lots of things

You pull along the ground with strings,

And he knows all the names of birds,

And how they call 'thout using words,

And where they live and what they eat,

And how they build their nests so neat.

Edgar Albert Guest

You

You are the fellow that has to decide

Whether you'll do it or toss it aside.

You are the fellow who makes up your mind

Whether you'll lead or will linger behind

Whether you'll try for the goal that's afar

Or just be contented to stay where you are.

Take it or leave it. Here's something to do!

Just think it over — It's all up to you!

Edgar Albert Guest

A Patriotic Creed

To serve my country day by day

At any humble post I may;

To honor and respect her flag,

To live the traits of which I brag;

To be American in deed

As well as in my printed creed.

To stand for truth and honest toil,

To till my little patch of soil,

Edgar Albert Guest

Take Home A Smile

Take home a smile; forget the petty cares,

The dull, grim grind of all the day's affairs;

The day is done, come be yourself awhile:

To-night, to those who wait, take home a smile.

Take home a smile; don't scatter grief and gloom

Where laughter and light hearts should always bloom;

What though you've traveled many a dusty mile,

Footsore and weary, still take home a smile.

Edgar Albert Guest

Thec Lanes Of Memory

Adown the lanes of memory bloom all the flowers of yesteryear,

And looking back we smile to see life's bright red roses reappear,

The little sprigs of mignonette that smiled upon us as we passed,

The pansy and the violet, too sweet, we thought those days, to last.

The gentle mother by the door caresses still her lilac blooms,

And as we wander back once more we seem to smell the old perfumes,

We seem to live again the joys that once were ours so long ago

When we were little girls and boys, with all the charms we used to know.

Edgar Albert Guest

The Pup

He tore the curtains yesterday,

And scratched the paper on the wall;

Ma's rubbers, too, have gone astray—

She says she left them in the hall;

He tugged the table cloth and broke

A fancy saucer and a cup;

Though Bud and I think it a joke

Ma scolds a lot about the pup.

Edgar Albert Guest

The Kick Under The Table

After a man has been married awhile,

And his wife has grown used to his manner

And style,

When she knows form the twinkle that lights

Up his eye

The thoughts he is thinking, the wherefore and

Why,

And just what he'll say, and just what he'll do,

Edgar Albert Guest

Pa Did It!

The train of cars that Santa brought is out of kilter now;

While pa was showing how they went he broke the spring somehow.

They used to run around a track—at least they did when he

Would let me take them in my hands an' wind 'em with a key.

I could 'a' had some fun with 'em, if only they would go,

But, gee! I never had a chance, for pa enjoyed em so.

The automobile that I got that ran around the floor

Was lots of fun when it was new, but it won't go no more.

Edgar Albert Guest

Memory

I stood and watched him playing,

A little lad of three,

And back to me came straying

The years that used to be;

In him the boy was Maying

Who once belonged to me.

The selfsame brown his eyes were

As those that once I knew;

Edgar Albert Guest

Thanksgiving

Gettin' together to smile an' rejoice,

An' eatin' an' laughin' with folks of your choice;

An' kissin' the girls an' declarin' that they

Are growin' more beautiful day after day;

Chattin' an' braggin' a bit with the men,

Buildin' the old family circle again;

Livin' the wholesome an' old-fashioned cheer,

Just for awhile at the end of the year.

Edgar Albert Guest