Edgar Guest's "The Cheat"

As I read this poem, there is more than meets the eye. Don't let the title fool you. There is more to this poem than meets the eye. I'm tempted to fill in the details but I think I would be cheating you (no pun intended but I think you may see where this is going). Imagine cheating a friend in a way you least expect and you'll get the moral of the story. This is one message to remember.

Taken from http://sofinesjoyfulmoments.com/quotes/theCheat.htm

"The Cheat"


by Edgar Guest

I cheated a good friend yesterday,
Kept what was his, and went my way,
Wronged him by silence-for in haste
I let a glad thought go to waste.

I had a word of cheer to speak,
To strengthen him when he grew weak,
To send him smiling on his way -
But what I thought I didn't say.

He would have richer been to know

That deed of his had pleased me so,

But oh, I failed to let him see

How much his conquest meant to me.


I cheated him of words of praise
Which would have cheered his troubled days;
In this a faithful friend I wronged,
By keeping what to him belonged.

The praise was his by right to hear,
To him belonged my word of cheer;
In silence, though, from him I turned
And cheated him of what he'd earned.

Edgar Guest's "Influence"

I'm really becoming a fan of Edgar Guest. It seems his poetry has not only a wonderful writing style but a very powerful and/or positive message. His poetry is also pretty profound. This poem is no exception.


This topic is about influence you have on others. If I taught English at the high school or college level, Guest's work would be a part of the reading list. I think you will enjoy this. It may be worth committing to memory (as of yet, I have not).

"Influence"


by Edgar Guest

(as taken from http://sofinesjoyfulmoments.com/quotes/influence.htm)


This I think as I go my way:


What can matter the words I say,


And what can matter the false or true


Of any deed I am moved to do?






This I think as I go along:


What can matter my right or wrong?


Whichever path I may choose to take,


What possible difference can it make?






This I think as I go to town:


What can matter my smile or frown?


Can any one's destiny altered be


For better or worse because of me?






And something whispers;


"Another may be sadly deceived


By the words you say.


And another, believing and trusting you,


May be led astray by the things you do."






"For much that never you'll see or know


Will mark your days as you come and go.


And in countless lives that you'll never learn


The best and the worst of you will return."

Edgar Guest's "Life's Slacker"

I decided it would be a good idea to post this. Guest is a guy I wished I was exposed to earlier that I was. He's a VERY cleaver writer. This story is no exception (taken from http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/life-s-slacker/)


Life's Slacker

by Edgar Guest

The saddest sort of death to die


Would be to quit the game called life


And know, beneath the gentle sky,


You'd lived a slacker in the strife.


That nothing men on earth would find


To mark the spot that you had filled;


That you must go and leave behind


No patch of soil your hands had tilled.






I know no greater shame than this:


To feel that yours were empty years;


That after death no man would miss


Your presence in this vale of tears;


That you had breathed the fragrant air


And sat by kindly fires that burn,


And in earth's riches had a share


But gave no labor in return.






Yet some men die this way, nor care:


They enter and they leave life's door


And at the end, their record's bare—


The world's no better than before.


A few false tears are shed, and then,


In busy service, they're forgot.


We have no time to mourn for men


Who lived on earth but served it not.






A man in perfect peace to die


Must leave some mark of toil behind,


Some building towering to the sky,


Some symbol that his heart was kind,


Some roadway where strange feet may tread


That out of gratitude he made;


He cannot bravely look ahead


Unless his debt to life is paid.