Your Name
You got it from your father
’Twas the best he had to give.
And right gladly he bestowed it
It’s yours, the while you live.
You may lose the watch he gave you
and another you may claim,
But remember, when you’re tempted,
to be careful of this name.
It was fair the day you got it,
and a worthy name to bear,
When he took it from his father,
there was no dishonor there.
Through the years he proudly wore it,
to his father he was true,
And that name was clean and spotless
when he passed it on to you.
Oh, there’s much that he has given
that he values not at all.
He has watched you break your playthings
in the days when you were small.
You have lost the knife he gave you,
and you’ve scattered many a game,
But you’ll never hurt your father
if you’re careful with his name.
It is yours to wear forever,
yours to wear the while you live.
Yours, perhaps some distant morning,
another boy to give.
And you’ll smile as did your father -
with a smile that all can share,
If a clean name and a good name
you are giving him to wear.
by Edgar Guest
Edgar Albert ‘Eddie’ Guest was born on 20 August 1881 in Birmingham, England. He immigrated with his family to the United States of America in 1891. From his first published work in the “Detroit Free Press” until his passing in 1959, he penned some 11,000 poems that were syndicated in 300 newspapers and collected into more than twenty books. Mr. Guest is reputed to have had a new poem published in a newspaper every day for more than thirty years. He became known as ‘The People’s Poet,’ writing poems that were of a sentimental and optimistic nature. Edgar Albert ‘Eddie’ Guest passed on at 77 years of age on 5 August 1959 in Detroit, Michigan, United States of America.
You got it from your father
’Twas the best he had to give.
And right gladly he bestowed it
It’s yours, the while you live.
You may lose the watch he gave you
and another you may claim,
But remember, when you’re tempted,
to be careful of this name.
It was fair the day you got it,
and a worthy name to bear,
When he took it from his father,
there was no dishonor there.
Through the years he proudly wore it,
to his father he was true,
And that name was clean and spotless
when he passed it on to you.
Oh, there’s much that he has given
that he values not at all.
He has watched you break your playthings
in the days when you were small.
You have lost the knife he gave you,
and you’ve scattered many a game,
But you’ll never hurt your father
if you’re careful with his name.
It is yours to wear forever,
yours to wear the while you live.
Yours, perhaps some distant morning,
another boy to give.
And you’ll smile as did your father -
with a smile that all can share,
If a clean name and a good name
you are giving him to wear.
by Edgar Guest
Edgar Albert ‘Eddie’ Guest was born on 20 August 1881 in Birmingham, England. He immigrated with his family to the United States of America in 1891. From his first published work in the “Detroit Free Press” until his passing in 1959, he penned some 11,000 poems that were syndicated in 300 newspapers and collected into more than twenty books. Mr. Guest is reputed to have had a new poem published in a newspaper every day for more than thirty years. He became known as ‘The People’s Poet,’ writing poems that were of a sentimental and optimistic nature. Edgar Albert ‘Eddie’ Guest passed on at 77 years of age on 5 August 1959 in Detroit, Michigan, United States of America.
