Continuing a Holiday Tradition...

I've enjoyed poetry since I was a kid. And even though I figure I'm in the minority with those feelings, I've never resisted the urge to post some here on my blog, especially during the holiday season. Thus, it should come as no surprise that I'm continuing that tradition this year. Following is another poem by Edgar Allen Guest (1891-1959), whom I also featured last Thanksgiving.

A Boy and His Dad

A boy and his dad on a fishing trip--

There is a glorious fellowship!

Father and son and the open sky

And the white clouds lazily drifting by,

And the laughing stream as it runs along

With the clicking reel like a martial song,
And the father teaching the youngster gay
How to land a fish in the sportsman's way.

I fancy I hear them talking there
In an open boat, and the speech is fair.
And the boy is learning the ways of men
From the finest man in his youthful ken.
Kings, to the youngster, cannot compare
With the gentle father who's with him there.
And the greatest mind of the human race
Not for one minute could take his place.

Which is happier, man or boy?
The soul of the father is steeped in joy,
For he's finding out, to his heart's delight,
That his son is fit for the future fight.
He is learning the glorious depths of him,
And the thoughts he thinks and his every whim;
And he shall discover, when night comes on,
How close he has grown to his little son.

A boy and his dad on a fishing trip--
Builders of life's companionship!
Oh I envy them, as I see them there
Under the sky in the open air,
For out of the old, old long-ago
Come the summer days that I used to know,
When I learned life's truths from my father's lips
As I shared the joy of his fishing trips.

About the author...American poet Edgar Albert Guest became widely known as the People's Poet, a reflection of the optimistic nature of his life's work and his popularity. He was born in Birmingham, England, but came to the U.S. at the age of 10 and, soon after, became a naturalized citizen. A newspaper man by profession, Guest was one of the most prolific poets the world has ever known, writing some 11,000 verses in his 77 years, for which he was made Poet Laureate for Michigan. He was not always popular with his poetry-writing peers, who often thought he was too light of heart to be considered seriously. But his work endures to this day, and he has many fans around the world.