Poem 1: To the Humble by Edgar Guest

If all the flowers were roses,
If never daisies grew,
If no old-fashioned posies
Drank in the morning dew,
Then man might have some reason
To whimper and complain,
And speak these words of treason,
That all our toil is vain.

If all the stars were Saturns
That twinkle in the night,
Of equal size and patterns,
And equally as bright,
Then men in humble places,
With humble work to do,
With frowns upon their faces
Might trudge their journey through.

But humble stars and posies
Still do their best, although
They’re planets not, nor roses,
To cheer the world below.
And those old-fashioned daisies
Delight the soul of man;
They’re here, and this their praise is:
They work the Master’s plan.

Though humble be your labor,
And modest be your sphere,
Come, envy not your neighbor
Whose light shines brighter here.
Does God forget the daisies
Because the roses bloom?
Shall you not win His praises
By toiling at your loom?

Have you, the toiler humble,
Just reason to complain,
To shirk your task and grumble
And think that it is vain
Because you see a brother
With greater work to do?
No fame of his can smother
The merit that’s in you.

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Edgar Guest is my favorite poet. I always put one of his poetry collections on my bedside table and I try to read one poem each night before I go to sleep. Tonight’s selection, from Just Folks published in 1917, resonated so deeply, I read it aloud to my husband and daughter and felt compelled to share it with you too. As usual, Edgar Guest taught and comforted me in one fell swoop.

“Does God forget the daisies because the roses bloom?”

How often has the pressure to do more and be better paralyzed me?
How often has comparison led me to crippling procrastination?
To be fair, the reprobation was always self-inflicted. I am my own worst critic.

Thankfully, flowers do not compete against one another. Neither should we.
Who ever proved the rose superior to the daisy anyway?

How grateful I am tonight that Edgar’s words, old but not forgotten, whispered healing and hope into my humbled soul.