Myself

By: Edgar A. Guest

I have to live with myself, and so
I want to be fit for myself to know,
I want to be able, as days go by,
Always to look myself in the eye;
I don't want to stand, with the setting sun,
And hate myself for things I have done.

I don't want to keep on a closet shelf
A lot of secrets about myself,
And fool myself, as I come and go,
Into thinking that nobody else will know
The kind of person I really am;
I don't want to dress up myself in sham.

I want to go out with my head erect,
I want to deserve all men's respect;
But here in the struggle for fame and pelf
I want to be able to like myself.
I don't want to look at myself and know
That I'm bluster and bluff and empty show.

I can never hide myself from me;
I see what others may never see;
I know what others may never know,
I never can fool myself, and so,
Whatever happens, I want to be
Self-respecting and conscience free.

About Edgar Albert Guest

August 20, 1881 – August 5, 1959

Guest was born in Birmingham, England in 1881. His family moved from England to Michigan in 1891 where Guest became a naturalized citizen in 1902.

Guest's first poem was published on December 11, 1898 in the Detroit Free Press. Guest penned over 11,000 poems which were syndicated in numerous newspapers and books over his lifetime. This earned him "Poet Laureate of Michigan". He was the only poet to have been awarded the title.

Guest was inducted into the Freemasons, where he served as a lifetime member of Ashlar Lodge No. 91 until he passed in 1959.

In honor of Guest's devotion to the craft, community, and humanity, the Freemasons of Michigan established the Edgar A. Guest Award for lodges to present to non-Masons who have demonstrated distinguished service to the community and their fellow man.

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