38 Edgar A. Guest Poems

Edgar A. Guest poems are ones that viewed life from a positive aspect. People can relate to his words as he was able to make day to day life experiences and express the challenges from an inspirational and positive perspective that people could relate to.

Edgar A. Guest was born in Birmingham, England on August 20, 1881. He relocated with his family when he was 10 years old to the United States. He died on August 5, 1959, in Detroit, Michigan. He held many different jobs over his lifetime, working for the Detroit Free Press for the majority of his career, but he also worked for NBC radio broadcasting "A Guest In Your Home". But what has made him famous is his ability to write poetry that has inspired millions of people.

His work has been published in many books, starting in 1909 in the book, Home Rhymes and up until 1949 in his book, Living The Years. His poems still live on today due to people being able to see themselves in his poems. Below is a collection of his poems for you to enjoy and share with others.

Edgar A. Guest

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Famous Poems by Edgar A. Guest:

1. Don't Quit Poem 2. I'd Rather See A Sermon
3. Be A Friend 4. Father Son Poems
5. Edgar Guest Christmas Poems  


Popular Edgar A. Guest Short Poems:

    A poem that is written at the beginning of his book, Breakfast Table Chat:
  1. A Book
    Poet: Edgar A. Guest


    A book of verse is like a child -
    Its moods and fancies vary;
    At times its ways are meek and mild,
    At other times contrary.

    And like a child, it sometimes shows
    A charm that naught can smother;
    For that, of course, the credit goes
    Entirely to its mother.

    So readers, take my little lad,
    And may he be no bother;
    And when you find that he is bad,
    Just blame it on his father.


  2. Poems About Books
    More Poems About Books


  3. The Pathway of the Living
    Poet: Edgar A. Guest


    The pathway of the living is our ever-present care.
    Let us do our best to smooth it and to make it bright and fair;
    Let us travel it with kindness, let's be careful as we tread,
    And give unto the living what we'd offer to the dead.

    The pathway of the living we can beautify and grace;
    We can line it deep with roses and make earth a happier place.
    But we've done all mortals can do, when our prayers are softly said
    For the souls of those that travel o'er the pathway of the dead.

    The pathway of the living all our strength and courage needs,
    There we ought to sprinkle favors, there we ought to sow our deeds,
    There our smiles should be the brightest, there our kindest words be said,
    For the angels have the keeping of the pathway of the dead.


  4. Poems About Life
    More Poems About Life



  5. My Goals
    Poet: Edgar A. Guest


    A little braver when the skies are gray,
    A little stronger when the road seems long,
    A little more of patience through the day,
    And not so quick to magnify a wrong.

    A little kinder, both of thought and deed,
    A little gentler with the old and weak,
    Swifter to sense another's pressing need,
    And not so fast the hurtful phrase to speak.

    These are my goals - not flung beyond my power,
    Not dreams of glory, beautiful but vain,
    Not the great heights where buds of genius flower,
    But simple splendors which I ought to gain.

    These I can do and be from day to day
    Along the humble pathway where I plod,
    So that at last when I am called away
    I need not make apologies to God.


  6. Christian Poems
    More Christian Poems


  7. My Creed
    Poet: Edgar A. Guest


    To live as gently as I can;
    To be, no matter where, a man;
    To take what comes of good or ill
    And cling to faith and honor still;
    To do my best, and let that stand
    The record of my brain and hand;
    And then, should failure come to me,
    Still work and hope for victory.

    To have no secret place wherein
    I stoop unseen to shame or sin;
    To be the same when I’m alone
    As when my every deed is known;
    To live undaunted, unafraid
    Of any step that I have made;
    To be without pretense or sham
    Exactly what men think I am.

    To leave some simple mark behind
    To keep my having lived in mind;
    If enmity to aught I show,
    To be an honest, generous foe,
    To play my little part, nor whine
    That greater honors are not mine.
    This, I believe, is all I need
    For my philosophy and creed.


  8. Inspirational Poems
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  9. The Weaver
    Poet: Edgar A. Guest


    The patter of rain on the roof,
    The glint of the sun on the rose;
    Of life, these the warp and the woof,
    The weaving that everyone knows.
    Now grief with its consequent tear,
    Now joy with its luminous smile;
    The days are the threads of the year--
    Is what I am weaving worth while?

    What pattern have I on my loom?
    Shall my bit of tapestry please?
    Am I working with gray threads of gloom?
    Is there faith in the figures I seize?
    When my fingers are lifeless and cold,
    And the threads I no longer can weave
    Shall there be there for men to behold
    One sign of the things I believe?

    God sends me the gray days and rare,
    The threads from his bountiful skein,
    And many, as sunshine, are fair.
    And some are as dark as the rain.
    And I think as I toil to express
    My life through the days slipping by,
    Shall my tapestry prove a success?
    What sort of a weaver am I?

    Am I making the most of the red
    And the bright strands of luminous gold?
    Or blotting them out with the thread
    By which all men's failure is told?
    Am I picturing life as despair,
    As a thing men shall shudder to see,
    Or weaving a bit that is fair
    That shall stand as the record of me?


  10. Poems Of Encouragement
    More Poems Of Encouragement



  11. The Call
    Poet: Edgar A. Guest


    Joy stands on the hilltops, beckoning to me,
    Urging me to journey up where I can see
    Blue skies ever smiling, cool green fields below,
    Hear the songs of children still untouched by woe.

    Joy stands on the hilltops, urging me to stay,
    Spite of toil and trouble, to life's rugged way,
    Holding out a promise of a life serene
    When the steeps I've mastered lying now between.

    Joy stands on the hilltops, smiling down at me,
    Urging me to clamber up where I can see
    Over toil and trouble far beyond despair,
    And I answer smiling: some day I'll be there.


  12. Poems About Joy
    More Poems About Joy


  13. Duty
    Poet: Edgar A. Guest


    To do your little bit of toil,
    To play life's game with head erect;
    To stoop to nothing that would soil
    Your honor or your self-respect;
    To win what gold and fame you can,
    But first of all to be a man.

    To know the bitter and the sweet,
    The sunshine and the days of rain;
    To meet both victory and defeat,
    Nor boast too loudly nor complain;
    To face whatever fates befall
    And be a man throughout it all.

    To seek success in honest strife,
    But not to value it so much
    That, winning it, you go through life
    Stained by dishonor's scarlet touch.
    What goal or dream you choose, pursue,
    But be a man whate'er you do!


  14. Success Poems
    More Success Poems


  15. The Little Home
    Poet: Edgar A. Guest


    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.
    Within it those who dwell may find
    High faith which makes for peace of mind,
    And that sweet understanding which
    Can make the poorest cottage rich.

    The little house can hold all things
    From which the soul's contentment springs.
    'Tis not too small for love to grow,
    For all the joys that mortals know,
    For mirth and song and that delight
    Which make the humblest dwelling bright.


  16. Poems About Home
    More Poems About Home


  17. About Boys
    Poet: Edgar A. Guest


    Show me the boy who never threw
    A stone at someone's cat;
    Or never hurled a snowball swift
    At someone's high silk hat.
    Who never ran away from school,
    To seek the swimming hole;
    Or slyly from a neighbor's yard
    Green apples never stole.
    Show me the boy who never broke
    A pane of window glass;
    Who never disobeyed the sign
    That says: "Keep off the grass."
    Who never did a thousand things,
    That grieve us sore to tell;
    And I'll show you a little boy
    Who must be far from well.


  18. Poems About Children Growing Up
    More Poems About Children Growing Up


  19. Money
    Poet: Edgar A. Guest


    Does money bring men gladness?
    Yes, at times!
    It also brings men sadness
    And to crimes.

    Earned well, it is a pleasure,
    None denies;
    But in the love of treasure
    Danger lies.

    Who grasps for it in blindness,
    Foul or fair,
    Sells out to bleak unkindness
    And despair.

    By money friends are parted;
    Hatred sown;
    For money, marble-hearted
    Men have grown.

    Money’s important. All require it
    Til life is o’er
    But it destroys men who desire it
    And nothing more.


  20. money quotes
    Related: Money Quotes


  21. The Home
    Poet: Edgar A. Guest


    Write it down that here I labored,
    Here I sang and laughed and neighbored;
    Here’s the sum of all my story,
    Here’s my fortune and my glory;
    These four walls and friendly door
    Mark the goal I struggled for.
    Never mind its present worth,
    Here’s one hundred feet of earth
    Where the passerby can see
    Every dream which came to me.

    Write it down: my life uncloses
    Here among these budding roses;
    In this patch of lawn I’ve tended,
    Here is all I’ve counted splendid;
    Here’s the goal that’s held me true
    To the tasks I’ve had to do.
    Here for all the world to scan
    Is my secret thought and plan;
    Through the long years gone before,
    This is what I struggled for.

    Write it down, when I have perished:
    Here is everything I’ve cherished;
    That these walls should glow with beauty
    Spurred my lagging soul to duty;
    That there should be gladness here
    Kept my toiling year by year.
    Here in phlox and marigold
    Is my every purposed told;
    Every thought and every act
    Were to keep this home intact.


  22. Home Quotes
    Related Home Quotes


  23. A Beautiful Day
    Poet: Edgar A. Guest


    "A beautiful day," you say to me,
    For the sun is high and the skies are blue;
    The robin sings in the chestnut tree
    A song to his mate on the chimney flue.
    A beautiful day! What makes it so?
    The gentle sun and the fleecy skies?
    They are not all that are needed, no!
    There is more than that where beauty lies.

    "A beautiful day," you say to me;
    Have you helped a friend who was falling down?
    Have you jogged a baby upon your knee
    And laughed him away to London town?
    Have unkind words on your tongue been stilled?
    Have you brushed another's tears away?
    Have you left any promises unfufilled?
    Have you helped to make it a beautiful day?

    A beautiful day! for the sun is out,
    A beautiful day we all declare;
    But have we scattered our clouds of doubt
    Or lightened another's load of care?
    God has sent us these beautiful days,
    The skies of blue and the kindly sun;
    But as we travel along our ways.
    What beautiful deed can we say we've done?


  24. poems about helping others
    Related Poems About Helping Others


More Poems by Edgar A. Guest:


We hope you have been encouraged and inspired by the poems written by Edgar A. Guest. His wit and wisdom has inspired many over the years. Share these with others who need a positive thought added to their day.

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