Edgar Albert Guest Poems

I can't help thinkin' o' the lad!
Here's summer bringin' trees to fruit,
An' every bush with roses clad,
An' nature in her finest suit,
...

With time our notions allus change,
An' years make old idees seem strange-
Take Mary there- time was when she
Thought one child made a family,
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When he has suffered honest woe,
I do not mind the man who grieves,
But I hate him who stubs his toe
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Why not think a decent thought,
Now and then?
Why not ponder, as you ought,
Now and then?
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I NEVER pondered much on war,
Except to think it was inspiring
To have a cause to battle for,
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I'SPOSE the big head bendin' over my crib
Is my Pa.
I 'spose that wiseacre whose talk is so glib
Is my Pa.
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O, SAD and solemn holy day,
O, bitterest of bitter hours!
Behold He staggers on His way
Beneath the cross that saps His powers.
...

The choir we had in Pixley wasn't much for looks an' styles,
But today if I could hear it I would walk a hundred miles;
There warn't a singer in it that could boast she 'd crossed the seas
To study with the masters and to learn to make high C's;
...

BLUE skies mighty temptin', an' the sunbeams coaxin', too,
An' my wo'k is gettin' harder ebery day;
Ain't a-takin' any int'rest in de things I has t' do,
Jes' sittin' heah an' wishin' time away.
Jes' a-wishin' fo' de fishin'
...

If I had youth I'd bid the world to try me;
I'd answer every challenge to my will.
And though the silent mountains should defy me,
I'd try to make them subject to my skill.
...