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Edgar Albert Guest (20 August 1881 - 5 August 1959 / Birmingham / England)
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Edgar Allen Guest also known as Eddie Guest was a prolific English-born American poet who was popular in the first half of the 20th century and became known as the People's Poet.
Eddie Guest was born in Birmingham, England in 1881, moving to Michigan USA as a young child, it was here he was educated.
In 1895, the year before Henry Ford took his first ride in a motor carriage, Eddie Guest signed on with the Free Press as a 13-year-old office boy. He stayed for 60 years.
In those six decades, Detroit underwent half a dozen identity changes, but Eddie Guest became a steadfast character on the changing scene.
Three years after he joined the Free Press,... more »
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Popular Poems
- A Christmas Greeting
- A Father's Prayer
- A Toast to the Men
- Compensation
- Drafted
- Father
- Follow A Famous Father
- Grace At Evening
- Hard Luck
- He Who Serves
- I See You've Travelled Some
- Ideals
- If You Would Please Me
- Life's Slacker
Quotations
more quotations »-
''Just start to sing as you tackle the thing
Edgar Albert Guest (1881-1959), Anglo-American poet. It Couldn't Be Done (l. 23-24). . . Family Book of Best Loved Poems, The. David L. George, ed...
That "cannot be done," and you'll do it.''
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''Somebody said that it couldn't be done,
Edgar Albert Guest (1881-1959), Anglo-American poet. It Couldn't Be Done (l. 1-4). . . Family Book of Best Loved Poems, The. David L. George, ed. ...
But he with a chuckle replied
That "maybe it couldn't," but he would be one
Who wouldn't say so till he'd tried.''
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''It ain't home t' ye, though it be the palace of a king,
Edgar Albert Guest (1881-1959), Anglo-American poet. Home (l. 7-8). . . Oxford Book of American Light Verse, The. William Harmon, ed. (1979) Oxfor...
Until somehow yer soul is sort o' wrapped round everything.''
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It takes a heap o' livin' in a house t' make it home,
Edgar Albert Guest (1881-1959), Anglo-American poet. Home (l. 1-4). . . Oxford Book of American Light Verse, The. William Harmon, ed. (1979) Oxfor...
A heap o' sun an' shadder, an' ye sometimes have t' roam
Afore ye really 'preciate the things ye lef' behind,
An' hunger fer ...
Comments about Edgar Albert Guest
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I just love the man but wish I could find more of his biography. I would like to know about his religious beliefs.
My favorite poem by Guest is not on here. That's such a shame. It's called Teamwork. Google it (:
This was so appropriate for today's drivers. It was on the back of a 1949 Hudson car manual:
COURTESY / Edgar A. Guest © 1947
Not the “right of way” when driving, but the simple way of right and never once forgetting to be courteous and polite.
A little bit of patience as behind the wheel you sit and you’ll never lose a fender and a child you’ll never hit.
Oh, the worst of phrases ringing all through motordom today is that selfish bit of wording that is known as “right of way.”
It has filled the graves of many who have sped some road along, since death never asks the question, is the driver right or wrong.
Just a little thought for others, just remembering to be kind, just the willingness in traffic to slow down and stay behind.
Just the show of gracious manners which all gentle folks display, and all the accidents that happen will be fewer day by day.
Just control that flash of temper when another sounds his horn. In the car may be a mother soon to have her baby born.
Be considerate in your driving and be courteous and be kind, and you’ll reach your dwelling safely and you’ll keep your peace of mind.
I grew up listening to WJR radio out of Detroit; listening to Edgar A. Guest's son, Bud Guest was part of everyday life. I remember one of his dad's poems, 'Open-face Letters' as the earliest one I can recall. This man's poetry and his son's voice are some of the homey things from The Good Old Days. They influenced me to begin writing poetry, too. Although I ended up published with novels, I still write the occasional poem, partly due to the Guests.