Edgar Albert Guest Poems

'Oh, if only I had known!'
Said the keeper of the inn.
'But no hint to me was shown,
And I didn't let them in.
...

If this were all of life we'll know,
If this brief space of breath
Were all there is to human toil,
...

The miser thinks he's living when he's hoarding up his gold;
The soldier calls it living when he's doing something bold;
The sailor thinks it living to be tossed upon the sea,
...

If never a sorrow came to us,
and never a care we knew;
If every hope were realized,
and every dream came true;
...

Don't mind being broke at all,
When I can say that what I had
Was spent for toys for kiddies small
...

To serve my country day by day
At any humble post I may;
To honor and respect her flag,
...

The world is full of gladness,
There are joys of many kinds,
There's a cure for every sadness,
That each troubled mortal finds.
...

God of battles, be with us now:
Guard our sons from the lead of shame,
Watch our sons when the cannons flame,
Let them not to a tyrant bow.
...

The good old-fashioned mothers and the good old-fashioned dads,
With their good old-fashioned lassies and their good old-fashioned lads,
...

Lord, make me tolerant and wise;
Incline my ears to hear him through;
Let him not stand with downcast eyes,
...