Only a Dad
Only a Dad
Original Text
Edgar A. Guest, A Heap o' Livin' (Chicago: Reilly & Lee, 1916): 42. PS 3513 U45 H4 1916 York University Library
1Only a dad with a tired face,
2Coming home from the daily race,
3Bringing little of gold or fame
4To show how well he has played the game;
5But glad in his heart that his own rejoice
6To see him come and to hear his voice.
7Only a dad with a brood of four,
8One of ten million men or more
9Plodding along in the daily strife,
10Bearing the whips and the scorns of life,
11With never a whimper of pain or hate,
12For the sake of those who at home await.
13Only a dad, neither rich nor proud,
14Merely one of the surging crowd,
15Toiling, striving from day to day,
16Facing whatever may come his way,
17Silent whenever the harsh condemn,
18And bearing it all for the love of them.
19Only a dad but he gives his all,
20To smooth the way for his children small,
21Doing with courage stern and grim
22The deeds that his father did for him.
23This is the line that for him I pen:
24Only a dad, but the best of men.
Publication Start Year
1916
RPO poem Editors
Ian Lancashire
RPO Edition
RPO 2000.
Rhyme