The Gentle Gardener
I’d like to leave but daffodils to mark my little way,
To leave but tulips red and white behind me as I stray;
I’d like to pass away from Earth and feel I’d left behind
But roses and forget-me-nots for all who come to find.
I’d like to sow the barren spots with all the flowers of Earth,
To leave a path where those who come should find but gentle mirth;
And when at last I’m called upon to join the heavenly throng
I’d like to feel along my way I’d left no sign of wrong.
And yet the cares are many and the hours of toil are few;
There is not time enough on Earth for all I’d like to do;
But, having lived and having toiled, I’d like the world to find
Some little touch of beauty that my soul had left behind.
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.
I’d like to leave but daffodils to mark my little way,
To leave but tulips red and white behind me as I stray;
I’d like to pass away from Earth and feel I’d left behind
But roses and forget-me-nots for all who come to find.
I’d like to sow the barren spots with all the flowers of Earth,
To leave a path where those who come should find but gentle mirth;
And when at last I’m called upon to join the heavenly throng
I’d like to feel along my way I’d left no sign of wrong.
And yet the cares are many and the hours of toil are few;
There is not time enough on Earth for all I’d like to do;
But, having lived and having toiled, I’d like the world to find
Some little touch of beauty that my soul had left behind.
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.
