Edgar Albert Guest Poems

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

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,
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Lord, make me tolerant and wise;
Incline my ears to hear him through;
Let him not stand with downcast eyes,
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Ma says no, it's too much care
An' it will scatter germs an' hair,
An' it's a nuisance through and through.
An' barks when you don't want it to;
...

When he was only nine months old,
And plump and round and pink of cheek,
A joy to tickle and to hold,
Before he'd even learned to speak,
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Show the flag and let it wave
As a symbol of the brave
Let it float upon the breeze
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We were settin' there an' smokin' of our pipes, discussin' things,
Like licker, votes for wimmin, an' the totterin'thrones o' kings,
When he ups an' strokes his whiskers with his hand an' says t'me:
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I HOLD the finest picture-books
Are woods an' fields an' runnin' brooks;
An' when the month o' May has done
Her paintin', an' the mornin' sun
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Often as we watched her there
From our lips there fell this prayer,
'God, give us the pain to bear!
...