Poems by Edgar Albert Guest

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The Little Home

The little house is not too small

To shelter friends who come to call.

Though low the roof and small its space

It holds the Lord's abounding grace,

And every simple room may be

Endowed with happy memory.

The little house, severly plain,

A wealth of beauty may contain.

Edgar Albert Guest

How Do You Tackle Your Work?

How do you tackle your work each day?

Are you scared of the job you find?

Do you grapple the task that comes your way

With a confident, easy mind?

Do you stand right up to the work ahead

Or fearfully pause to view it?

Do you start to toil with a sense of dread

Or feel that you're going to do it?

Edgar Albert Guest

The First Steps

Last night I held my arms to you

And you held yours to mine

And started out to march to me

As any soldier fine.

You lifted up your little feet

And laughingly advanced;

And I stood there and gazed upon

Your first wee steps, entranced.

Edgar Albert Guest

What A Baby Costs

"How much do babies cost?" said he

The other night upon my knee;

And then I said: "They cost a lot;

A lot of watching by a cot,

A lot of sleepless hours and care,

A lot of heartache and despair,

A lot of fear and trying dread,

And sometimes many tears are shed

Edgar Albert Guest

The Perfect Dinner Table

A table cloth that's slightly soiled

Where greasy little hands have toiled;

The napkins kept in silver rings,

And only ordinary things

From which to eat, a simple fare,

And just the wife and kiddies there,

And while I serve, the clatter glad

Of little girl and little lad

Edgar Albert Guest

A Wish

I'd like to be a boy again, a care-free prince of joy again,

I'd like to tread the hills and dales the way I used to do;

I'd like the tattered shirt again, the knickers thick with dirt again,

The ugly, dusty feet again that long ago I knew.

I'd like to play first base again, and Sliver's curves to face again,

I'd like to climb, the way I did, a friendly apple tree;

For, knowing what I do to-day, could I but wander back and play,

I'd get full measure of the joy that boyhood gave to me.

Edgar Albert Guest

A Christmas Carol

God bless you all this Christmas Day

And drive the cares and griefs away.

Oh, may the shining Bethlehem star

Which led the wise men from afar

Upon your heads, good sirs, still glow

To light the path that ye should go.

As God once blessed the stable grim

And made it radiant for Him;

Edgar Albert Guest

A Boy And His Dad

A boy and his dad on a fishing trip-

There is a glorious fellowship!

Father and son and the open sky,

And the white clouds lazily drifting by,

And the laughing stream as it runs along

With the clicking reel like a martial song,

And the father teaching the youngster gay

How to land a fish in the sportsman's way.

Edgar Albert Guest

A Boy And His Dog

A boy and his dog make a glorious pair:

No better friendship is found anywhere,

For they talk and they walk and they run and they play,

And they have their deep secrets for many a day;

And that boy has a comrade who thinks and who feels,

Who walks down the road with a dog at his heels.

He may go where he will and his dog will be there,

May revel in mud and his dog will not care;

Edgar Albert Guest

Being Brave At Night

The other night 'bout two o'clock, or maybe it was three,

An elephant with shining tusks came chasing after me.

His trunk was wavin' in the air an' spoutin' jets of steam

An' he was out to eat me up, but still I didn't scream

Or let him see that I was scared - a better thought I had,

I just escaped from where I was and crawled in bed with Dad.

One time there was a giant who was horrible to see,

He had three heads and twenty arms, an' he came after me

Edgar Albert Guest

At Breakfast Time

My Pa he eats his breakfast

in a funny sort of way:

We hardly ever see him

at the first meal of the day.

Ma puts his food before him

and he settles in his place

An' then he props the paper up

and we can't see his face;

Edgar Albert Guest

Success And Failure

I do not think all failure's undeserved,

And all success is merely someone's luck;

Some men are down because they were unnerved,

And some are up because they kept their pluck.

Some men are down because they chose to shirk;

Some men are high because they did their work.

I do not think that all the poor are good,

That riches are the uniform of shame;

Edgar Albert Guest