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The World is Against Me
"The world is against me," he said with a sigh.
"Somebody stops every scheme that I try.
The world has me down and it's keeping me there;
I don't get a chance. Oh, the world is unfair!
When a fellow is poor then he can't get a show;
The world is determined to keep him down low."
"What of Abe Lincoln?" I asked. "Would you say
That he was much richer than you are to-day?
He hadn't your chance of making his mark,
And his outlook was often exceedingly dark;
Yet he clung to his purpose with courage most grim
And he got to the top. Was the world against him?
"What of Ben Franklin? I've oft heard it said
That many a time he went hungry to bed.
He started with nothing but courage to climb,
But patiently struggled and waited his time.
He dangled awhile from real poverty's limb,
Yet he got to the top. Was the world against him?
"I could name you a dozen, yes, hundreds, I guess,
Of poor boys who've patiently climbed to success;
All boys who were down and who struggled alone,
Who'd have thought themselves rich if your fortune they'd known;
Yet they rose in the world you're so quick to condemn,
And I'm asking you now, was the world against them?"
Edgar A. Guest
| About
Edgar Guest ( 1881 - 1959) |
|
Edgar Guest was born in Birmingham, England but became a naturalized US citizen when his family moved to Detroit in 1881. He started his career as a copy boy at a local newspaper company. From this humble position he worked his way up as reporter and later as editor and columnist. It was during this time that he began writing daily poetry for the newspaper. His poems were later syndicated to over 300 newspaper all over the nations. Guest was famous for writing poems on home and familiar things and transforming those so called mundane things into great beauty and appreciation. Considered one of the most influential people who manage to give hope during the Great Depression, Guest was affectionately given the title “the poet of the people” after his death. His best known poem is It Couldn't Be Done while his fourth volume of poetry, A Heap O' Living were sold for more than 1 million copies. During his lifetime Guest was believed to have written over 15000 poems. |
