Edgar Albert Guest

Understanding

When I was young and frivolous and never stopped to think,
When I was always doing wrong, or just upon the brink;
When I was just a lad of seven and eight and nine and ten,
It seemed to me that every day I got in trouble then,
And strangers used to shake their heads and say I was no good,
But father always stuck to me—it seems he understood.
 
I used to have to go to him 'most every night and say
The dreadful things that I had done to worry folks that day.
I know I didn’t mean to be a turmoil round the place,
And with the womenfolks about forever in disgrace;
To do the way they said I should, I tried the best I could,
But though they scolded me a lot—my father understood.
 
He never seemed to think it queer that I should risk my bones,
Or fight with other boys at times, or pelt a cat with stones;
An’ when I’d break a window pane, it.used to make him sad,
But though the neighbors said I was, he never thought me bad;
He never whipped me, as they used to say to me he should;
That boys can’t always do what’s right—it seemed he understood.
 
Now there’s that little chap of mine, just full of life and fun,
Comes up to me with solemn face to tell the bad he’s done.
It’s natural for any boy to be a roguish elf,
He hasn’t time to stop and think and figure for himself,
And though the womenfolks insist that I should take a hand,
They’ve never been a boy themselves, and they don’t understand.
 
Some day I’ve got to go up there, and make a sad report
And tell the Father of us all where I have fallen short;
And there will be a lot of wrong I never meant to do,
A lot of smudges on my sheet that He will have to view.
And little chance for heavenly bliss, up there, will I command,
Unless the Father smiles and says: ‘ My boy, I understand.’
Connectez-vous pour commenter.
Autres oeuvres par Edgar Albert Guest...



Haut
Logo

Looks like your ad blocker is on.

We rely on ads to keep creating quality content for you to enjoy for free.

Please support our site by disabling your ad blocker.

Choose your Ad Blocker

  • Adblock Plus
  • Adblock
  • Adguard
  • Ad Remover
  • Brave
  • Ghostery
  • uBlock Origin
  • uBlock
  • UltraBlock
  • Other
  1. In the extension bar, click the AdBlock Plus icon
  2. Click the large blue toggle for this website
  3. Click refresh
  1. In the extension bar, click the AdBlock icon
  2. Under "Pause on this site" click "Always"
  1. In the extension bar, click on the Adguard icon
  2. Click on the large green toggle for this website
  1. In the extension bar, click on the Ad Remover icon
  2. Click "Disable on This Website"
  1. In the extension bar, click on the orange lion icon
  2. Click the toggle on the top right, shifting from "Up" to "Down"
  1. In the extension bar, click on the Ghostery icon
  2. Click the "Anti-Tracking" shield so it says "Off"
  3. Click the "Ad-Blocking" stop sign so it says "Off"
  4. Refresh the page
  1. In the extension bar, click on the uBlock Origin icon
  2. Click on the big, blue power button
  3. Refresh the page
  1. In the extension bar, click on the uBlock icon
  2. Click on the big, blue power button
  3. Refresh the page
  1. In the extension bar, click on the UltraBlock icon
  2. Check the "Disable UltraBlock" checkbox
  3. Marque la casilla de verificación "Desactivar UltraBlock"
  1. Please disable your Ad Blocker
  2. Disable any DNS blocking tools such as AdGuardDNS or NextDNS

If the prompt is still appearing, please disable any tools or services you are using that block internet ads (e.g. DNS Servers).