Edgar Guest: Man

“Can't is the word that is foe to ambition,
An enemy ambushed to shatter your will;
Its prey is forever the man with a mission
And bows but to courage and patience and skill.
Hate it, with hatred that's deep and undying,
For once it is welcomed 'twill break any man;
Whatever the goal you are seeking, keep trying
And answer this demon by saying: "I can."”

Edgar Guest

Can't, stanza 4, p. 54.
A Heap o' Livin' (1916)

Hate , Courage , Patience

“No man is greater than his will;
No gods to him will lend a hand!
Upon his courage and his skill
The record of his life must stand.
What honors shall befall to him,
What he shall claim of fame or pelf,
Depend not on the favoring whim
Of fortune's god, but on himself.”

Edgar Guest

Source: Just Folks (1917), There Are No Gods, final stanza.

God , Dependency , Courage , Life

“I'm not the man to say that failure's sweet,
Nor tell a chap to laugh when things go wrong;
I know it hurts to have to take defeat
An' no one likes to lose before a throng;
It isn't very pleasant not to win
When you have done the very best you could;
But if you're down, get up an' buckle in—
A lickin' often does a fellow good.”

Edgar Guest

Hard Knocks, stanza 1, p. 44.
A Heap o' Livin' (1916)

Failure , Hurt

“A man is at his finest towards the finish of the year;
He is almost what he should be when the Christmas season's here;
Then he's thinking more of others than be's thought the months before,
And the laughter of his children is a joy worth toiling for.
He is less a selfish creature than at any other time;
When the Christmas spirit rules him he comes close to the sublime.”

Edgar Guest

At Christmas, stanza 1.
Just Folks (1917)

Children , Thinking , Laughter , Time

“You can do as much as you think you can,
But you'll never accomplish more;
If you're afraid of yourself, young man,
There's little for you in store.
For failure comes from the inside first,
It's there if we only knew it,
And you can win, though you face the worst,
If you feel that you're going to do it.”

Edgar Guest

A Heap o' Livin' (1916)
Source: How Do You Tackle Your Work, stanza 2, p. 63.

Feeling , Failure , Thinking

“Courage was never designed for show;
It isn't a thing that can come and go;
It's written in victory and defeat
And every trial a man may meet.
It's part of his hours, his days and his years,
Back of his smiles and behind his tears.
Courage is more than a daring deed:
It's the breath of life and a strong man's creed.”

Edgar Guest

Source: A Heap o' Livin' (1916), Courage, stanza 4, p. 73.

Life , Smile , Courage , Tear

“Now a bit of praise isn't much to give,
But it's dear to the hearts of all who live;
And there's never a man on this good old earth
But is glad to be told that he's been of worth;
And a kindly word when the work is fair
Is welcomed and wanted everywhere.”

Edgar Guest

If I Were a Boss, third stanza.
Source: The Passing Throng (1923)

Heart

“Whose luck is better far than ours?
The other fellow's.
Whose road seems always lined with flowers?
The other fellow's.
Who is the man who seems to get
Most joy in life, with least regret,
Who always seems to win his bet?
The other fellow.”

Edgar Guest

The Other Fellow, stanza 1.
Just Folks (1917)

Joy , Flowers , Life

“Oh, youth, go forth and do!
You, too, to fame may rise;
You can be strong and wise.
Stand up to life and play the man —
You can if you'll but think you can;
The great were once as you.
You envy them their proud success?
'Twas won with gifts that you possess.”

Edgar Guest

Source: All That Matters (1922), p.93 - To a Young Man, final stanza.

Strong , Youth , Success , Envy

“Are you one of the nine who pass men by
In this hasty life we live?
Do you refuse with a downcast eye
The help which you could give?
Or are you the one in ten whose creed
Is always to stop for the man in need?”

Edgar Guest

Source: All That Matters (1922), p.90 - The One in Ten, final stanza.

Help , Men , Life

“Some day the world will need a man! I stand beside his cot at night
And wonder if I'm teaching him, as best I can, to know the right.
I am the father of a boy - his life is mine to make or mar -
And he no better can become than what my daily teachings are”

Edgar Guest

Source: Just Folks (1917), The Man To Be, lines from stanza 3.

Boy , World , Night , Life

“"It's not exactly to my best
But it may pass the final test;
And should it break, no man can know
It was my hand that made it so.
The thing is faulty, but perhaps
We'll never hear it when it snaps."
Of course the workman couldn't see
The mangled car beneath the tree,
The dead man, and the tortured wife
Doomed to a cripple's chair for life –
His chief concern was getting by
The stern inspector's eager eye.”

Edgar Guest

The Broken Wheel, fourth and fifth stanzas.
The Passing Throng (1923)

Tree , Dead , Cars , Life

“We have room for the man with an honest dream,
With his heart on fire and his eyes agleam;
We have room for the man with a purpose true,
Who comes to our shores to start life anew,
But we haven't an inch of space for him
Who comes to plot against life and limb.
We have room for the man who will learn our ways,
Who will stand by our Flag in its troubled days;
We have room for the man who will till the soil,
Who will give his hands to a fair day's toil,
But we haven't an inch of space to spare
For the breeder of hatred and black despair.”

Edgar Guest

Source: When Day is Done (1921), No Room for Hate, stanzas 1 and 2

Despair , Life , Learning , Dreams

“What do I want my boy to be?
Oft is the question asked of me,
And oft I ask it of myself -
What corner, niche or post or shelf
In the great hall of life would I
Select for him to occupy?
Statesman or writer, poet, sage
Or toiler for a weekly wage,
Artist or artisan? Oh, what
Is to become his future lot?
For him I do not dare to plan;
I only hope he'll be a man.I leave it free for him to choose
The tools of life which he shall use,
Brush, pen or chisel, lathe or wrench,
The desk of commerce or the bench,
And pray that when he makes his choice
In each day's task he shall rejoice.
I know somewhere there is a need
For him to labor and succeed;
Somewhere, if he be clean and true,
Loyal and honest through and through,
He shall be fit for any clan,
And so I hope he'll be a man.”

Edgar Guest

Source: When Day is Done (1921), A Father's Wish, stanzas 1 and 2.

Boy , Question , Life , Future

“It is better as it is: I have failed but I can sleep;
Though the pit I now am in is very dark and deep
I can walk to-morrow's streets and can meet to-morrow's men
Unashamed to face their gaze as I go to work again.I have lost the hope I had; in the dust are all my dreams,
But my loss is not so great or so dreadful as it seems;
I made my fight and though I failed I need not slink away
For I do not have to fear what another man may say.”

Edgar Guest

Source: When Day is Done (1921), The Loss Is Not So Great, stanzas 1 and 2.

Sleep , Fear , Loss , Dreams

“No use weepin' when the milk is spilled,
No use growlin' when your hopes are killed,
No use kickin' when the lightnin' strikes
Or the floods come along an' wreck your dykes;
Only thing for a man right then
Is to grit his teeth an' start again.For it's how life is an' the way things are
That you've got to face if you travel far;
An' the storms will come an' the failures, too,
An' plans go wrong spite of all you do;
An' the only thing that will help you win,
Is the grit of a man and a stern set chin.”

Edgar Guest

Source: When Day is Done (1921), No Use Sighin' , stanzas 3 and 4.

Failure , Life , Help , Hope

“Strange thoughts come to the man alone;
'Tis then, if ever, he talks with God,
And views himself as a single clod
In the soil of life where the souls are grown.
'Tis then he questions the why and where,
The start and end of his years and days,
And what is blame and what is praise,
And what is ugly and what is fair.”

Edgar Guest

Source: The Path to Home (1919), p.145 - Alone, stanza 1.

God , Soul , Question , Life

“Men talk too much of gold and fame,
And not enough about a name;
And yet a good name's better far
Than all earth's glistening jewels are.
Who holds his name above all price
And chooses every sacrifice
To keep his earthly record clear,
Can face the world without a fear.Who never cheats nor lies for gain,
A poor man may, perhaps, remain,
Yet, when at night he goes to rest,
No little voice within his breast
Disturbs his slumber. Conscience clear,
He falls asleep with naught to fear
And when he wakes the world to face
He is not tainted by disgrace.”

Edgar Guest

Source: The Path to Home (1919), p.143 - A Good Name, stanzas 1 and 2.

Cheating , Night , Men , World

“I envy men whose yards are gay,
But never work as hard as they;
I also envy men who own
More wealth than I have ever known.
I'm like a lot of men who yearn
For joys that they refuse to earn.You cannot have the joys of work
And take the comfort of a shirk.
I find the man I envy most
Is he who's longest at his post.
I could have gold and roses, too,
If I would work like those who do.”

Edgar Guest

Source: Just Folks (1917), The Truth About Envy, third and last stanzas.

Wealth , Joy , Men , Envy

“Changin' laws an' legislatures ain't, as fur as I can see,
Goin' to make this world much better, unless somehow we can
Find a way to make a better an' a finer sort o' man.
The trouble ain't with statutes or with systems—not at all;
It's with humans jus' like we [are] an' their petty ways an' small.
We could stop our writin' law-books an' our regulatin' rules
If a better sort of manhood was the product of our schools.
For the things that we air needin' isn't writin' from a pen
Or bigger guns to shoot with, but a bigger type of men.”

Edgar Guest

Source: All That Matters (1922), p.57 - The Need, from stanzas 1 (part) and 2.

Men , Books , World , School