The family of Edgar Albert Guest settled in Detroit, Michigan, in 1891. When his father lost his job in 1893, eleven-year-old Edgar between working odd jobs after school. In 1895, the Detroit Free Press hired him as a copy boy, and he worked for the newspaper for almost sixty-five years. Death of the father compelled the seventeen-year-old poet to drop out high school and to work full time at the newspaper. From copy boy, he worked his way to a job in the news department. His first poem appeared on 11 December 1898. His weekly column, "Chaff," first appeared in 1904; his topical verses eventually became the daily "Breakfast Table Chat," which was syndicated to over three-hundred newspapers throughout the United States.
Guest married Nellie Crossman in 1906. The couple had three children. His brother Harry printed his first two books, Home Rhymes and Just Glad Things, in small editions. His verse quickly found an audience and the Chicago firm of Reilly and Britton began to publish his books at a rate of nearly one per year. His collections include Just Folks (1917), Over Here (1918), When Day Is Done (1921), The Passing Throng (1923), Harbor Lights of Home (1928), and Today and Tomorrow (1942).
From 1931 to 1942, Guest broadcast a weekly program on NBC radio. In 1951, "A Guest in Your Home" appeared on NBC TV. He published more than twenty volumes of poetry and was thought to have written over 11,000 poems. Guest has been called "the poet of the people." Most often, his poems were fourteen lines long and presented a deeply sentimental view of everyday life. He considered himself "a newspaper man who wrote verses." Of his poem he said, "I take simple everyday things that happen to me and I figure it happens to a lot of other people and I make simple rhymes out of them." His Collected Verse appeared in 1934 and went into at least eleven editions.
I haven't read much poetry, but I really enjoyed this little book. Some of it was a bit watered down, so if felt all flowery, but most of them were amazing. I look forward to reading more by him. it's awesome to have found a Christian poet!
These short passages are just a way to reset one's mind, particularly after pain or setbacks occur. I spread reading this book out over a few months, so that it wouldn't seem so repetitive. There are good individual devotionals and prayers. Edgar Guest emphasized a man's way to the simple, good life. He would seem totally outdated now if he weren't so right. This book is almost a hundred years old (mine is Copyright, 1926) and it is just as true today as it was then.
Edgar A. Guest is one of my favorite poets. Not only does he speak to me, he has a knack of making seemingly unimportant things and encounters extremely meaningful. His poetry has the power to change the readers' perceptions so that he might see the world more clearly.
As I was reading this volume, I kept thinking that I need to memorize some of his pieces. I have memorized poetry since I was a boy, and I have often found it often helpful to recite a relevant passage in the classroom, when I'm speaking or on some other similar occasion. Some times it is just fun to do it, both for the one reciting and for the one listening.
There is a power in poetry and Edgar A. Guest's poetry has the power to move me.
This poem book is the most inspiring piece of work I have ever read. I could read it over and over and never tire of it. The title remains true to the meaning.