Compensation

Poem for the Day

Compensation
by Edgar Albert Guest

I'd like to think when life is done
That I had filled a needed post. 
That here and there I'd paid my fare
With more than idle talk and boast; 
That I had taken gifts divine.
The breath of life and manhood fine,
And tried to use them now and then 
In service for my fellow men.

I'd hate to think when life is through
That I had lived my round of years 
A useless kind, that leaves behind
No record in this vale of tears; 
That I had wasted all my days
By treading only selfish ways,
And that this world would be the same 
If it had never known my name.

I'd like to think that here and there,
When I am gone, there shall remain 
A happier spot that might have not
Existed had I toiled for gain; 
That someone's cheery voice and smile
Shall prove that I had been worth while;
That I had paid with something fine 
My debt to God for life divine. 

Clinching the Bolt

Poem for the Day

Clinching the Bolt
by Edgar Albert Guest

It needed just an extra turn to make the bolt secure,
A few more minutes on the job and then the work was sure;
But he begrudged the extra turn, and when the task was through,
The man was back for more repairs in just a day or two.
Two men there are in every place, and one is only fair,
The other gives the extra turn to every bolt that's there;
One man is slip-shod in his work and eager to be quit,
The other never leaves a task until he's sure of it.
The difference 'twixt good and bad is not so very much,
A few more minutes at the task, an extra turn or touch,
A final test that all is right—and yet the men are few
Who seem to think it worth their while these extra things to do.
The poor man knows as well as does the good man how to work,
But one takes pride in every task, the other likes to shirk;
With just as little as he can, one seeks his pay to earn,
The good man always gives the bolt that clinching, extra turn. 

Chums

Poem of the Day

Chums
by Edgar Albert Guest

HUSBAND and wife for fourteen years!
And just like children now,
As fond of one another as
The day they took their vow.
Where he goes she goes, hand in hand,
And thus their record sums,
Through all those years of joy and strife
They really have been chums.

Husband and wife. No, more than that,
For husbands oft are known,
In search of pleasure now and then,
To journey off alone;
And wives have clubs and other things
That interest them more
Than business plans their husbands make,
When honeymooning's o'er.

Not so with them — through weal or woe,
Through sunshine and through rain, 
Together they have journeyed on;
She cheered when all seemed vain. 
His greatest joys have always been
The ones that she could share, 
We knew that when we saw the one,
The other must be there.

If I could change the marriage rite
That binds a pair for life,
'T would be to drop that stilted phrase,
'You 're husband, now, and wife.' 
For just one little word, I think,
The knot far more becomes; 
I 'd like to hear the parson say:
'Beloved, now you 're chums.' 

Can't Frighten Them

Poem for the Day

Can't Frighten Them
by Edgar Albert Guest

This is the way to take your woes,
Just grin and bear 'em,
Since everybody round here knows
A frown won't scare 'em. 

Business

Poem for the Day

Business
by Edgar Albert Guest

"BUSINESS is business,' he said to me,
As he gave me short weight in my pound of tea.

'In business there isn't much sentiment,'
Said he, as he charged me the extra cent.

'Once I trusted a friend and he didn't pay,'
The bread that he sold wasn't made that day.

'Business is business,' he said to me,
Of a dozen eggs we could use but three.

O, it seems to me some way, somehow,
There's too much business in business now. 

Buckle In

Poem for the Day

Buckle In
by Edgar Albert Guest

JUST about the time the clouds are blackest
Let your thoughts go roving to the sun,
Just about the time your job is hardest
Think how glad you'll be when it is done.
Buckle to the task that you are facing,
Work away and pretty soon you'll find
All the little difficulties vanished,
All the little worries far behind.

'T isn't any use to sit and whimper,
Doesn't help a bit to sit and sigh,
Lose yourself in working out the problem,
If it's hard just buckle in and try.
Don't waste time in thinking what may happen,
Plug along and do the best you can,
That's the way to show the stuff you 're made of,
That's the way to prove yourself a man. 

Bravery

Poem of the Day

Bravery
by Edgar Albert Guest

The brave man journeys straight ahead; 
The coward goes
Along his way in constant dread
He'll meet a friend in need, ahead,
Or one he owes.