Edgar A. Guest
|
Born in Birmingham, England, on August 20, 1881, Edgar A. Guest settled
with his family in Detroit in 1891. Starting in 1895 as a copy boy at the
Detroit Free Press, Guest worked his way up as police reporter, exchange
editor, and verse columnist. His first, weekly column, "Chaff," began in
1904 and eventually became the daily "Breakfast Table Chat," which was
ultimately syndicated to 300 newspapers throughout the United States. His
fourth volume of poetry, A Heap o' Livin', reputedly sold more than one
million copies. He broadcast weekly from Chicago on NBC radio from 1931 to
1942. (For example, in the 1937-38 season his program, "Edgar Guest in
Welcome Valley," was sponsored by Household Finance on Tuesdays from 8:30
to 9:00 p.m. and ran on 18 stations.) In 1951 NBC broadcast his "A Guest
in Your Home" on television.
On June 28, 1906, Guest and Nellie Crossman married. They had two
children. Guest was a Mason, a member of the Episcopal church, and a
lifelong golfer. Late in life Guest was given several honorary degrees,
notably by the University of Michigan in 1955.
Guest authored over 20 volumes of poetry. At his death on August 5, 1959,
he was affectionately called "the poet of the people" because he wrote of
everyday family lives with deep sentimentality. He was thought to have
penned over 11,000 poems in his lifetime, many of them in fourteeners,
which have been neglected by major poets for centuries. An index to all
his poems exists in the Seattle Public Library. Academic anthologies
usually omit his works, possibly because in them he unashamedly wears his
heart on his sleave and leaves little room for multiple interpretations.
possibly his best-known poem is "It Couldn't be Done." His Collected Verse
appeared in 1934 and went into at least 11 editions.
Contributed by an anonymous poster
|
|
This article was written by Knowledgerush staff or contributed by users. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.
|
If you know facts or have questions about this author post them here.
|
Someone has asked me about a poem supposedly by Edgar Guest and I have been unable to find a copy. Did he write a poem called 'The Lost Purse'? Thank you very much.
Lamar Clark
|
|
I like it and the background and colors make it easy to readk
|
|
I am trying to find a poem of Edgar Guest's which includes: "They said that it couldn't be done, and I did it." It is all about not giving up on the thing that seems impossible. I looked thru both books on the site, and could not find it. My husband memorized it as a small boy, and would like to locate it. Thanks for any help you can give. Wanda
|
|
When did Edgar Guest die? It does not say when his death was, how he died, or even where he died. This needs to be put in ot this article for a student, such as myself, may be doing a biograohy of this poetic man and not get the full grade for these few fatcs that I have stated above. Putting this information in would benefit everyone. Thank you.
|
|
To iastsg@yhti.net:
It is my personal favourite. As a teacher I use it to motivate my pupils:
It Couldn't be done
Somebody said that it couldn’t be done,
But, he with a chuckle replied
That "maybe it couldn’t," but he would be one
Who wouldn’t say so till he’d tried.
So he buckled right in with the trace of a grin
On his face. If he worried he hid it.
He started to sing as he tackled the thing
That couldn’t be done, and he did it.
Somebody scoffed: "Oh, you’ll never do that;
At least no one has done it";
But he took off his coat and he took off his hat,
And the first thing we knew he’d begun it.
With a lift of his chin and a bit of a grin,
Without any doubting or quiddit,
He started to sing as he tackled the thing
That couldn’t be done, and he did it.
There are thousands to tell you it cannot be done,
There are thousands to prophesy failure;
There are thousands to point out to you one by one,
The dangers that wait to assail you.
But just buckle it in with a bit of a grin,
Just take off your coat and go to it;
Just start to sing as you tackle the thing
That "couldn’t be done," and you’ll do it.
from Collected Verse of Edgar Guest
NY:Buccaneer Books, 1976, pg. 285
|
|
I am in the process of composing several choral pieces and I would like to use two poems from "Rhymes of Childhood" by Edgar A. Guest as the settings. "The Path O' Childhood" and "The Children". I need a short document giving permission to use the poems or stating that the material is now in the public domain. I would appreciate any help you could give.
|
|
I am searching for a poem by Guest titled something to the effect of "The Unwanted Child."
My aunt had saved this for about 45 years and it was burned in a house fire. We have searched everywhere and cannot locate it. Any assistance will be greatly appreciated.
|
|
I'm not sure of the name of the poem by Edgar A. Guest but it starts like this.... "Don't do this and don't do that, don't annoy or tease the cat, don't throw stones or climb a tree, don't play in the yard "aw gee" and so on. If somebody could help me locate the name of this poem or even know it , that would be greatly appreciated! I use to know this poem as a little girl and would love to know it again! Thank you, Kerry
|
|
Don't be the judge of anyone,
And try not too accuse,
Until you suffered as they have,
By walking in their shoe's,
We cannot know how fate may deal,
A painful bitter hand,
And if we have not felt the pain,
How can we understand"?
was this written by poe am trying to find its title and author so I can get the rest of the poem.
|
|
To deandarien:
The title of the poem you are looking for is
"Always Saying Don't!"
It starts: "Folks are queer as they can be, always saying "don't" to me . . ."
It is in the Collected Verse of Edgar A. Guest, page 522.
Hope this helps!
|
|
I have been unsuccessful in trying to find what I'm almost certain was an Edgar Guest poem.......the title, I believe, was "Elizabeth Ellen Is Two Today." Can anyone out there help me?
|
|
Did that "Breakfast Table Chat" become a radio program, with some music, either in the Detroit area, or nationally, maybe in the late '40s or early '50s?
|
|
Looking for the name of an Edgar Guest poem the begins with the line
"For love after all ...
|
|
I am looking for Guest's poem with the theme of "building a better you"any ideas?
|
|
|
