Joy Stands on the Hilltops
A poem to answer the valley of the shadow of death
This little book is full of wonderful poems by Edgar Guest, which are generally uplifting and joyful. Perhaps that is why he doesn’t get much critical acclaim. These aren’t ‘classics’ but they are full of wonder and life, and I like them.
The Call
Joy stands on the hilltops,
Beckoning to me,
Urging me to journey
Up where I can see
Blue skies ever smiling,
Cool green fields below,
Hear the songs of children
Still untouched by woe.
Joy stands on the hilltops,
Urging me to stay,
Spite of toil and trouble,
To life's rugged way,
Holding out a promise
Of a life serene
When the steeps I've mastered
Lying now between.
Joy stands on the hilltops,
Smiling down at me,
Urging me to clamber
Up where I can see
Over toil and trouble
Far beyond despair,
And I answer smiling:
Some day I'll be there.
—Edgar Guest (1917)
When you are walking through the valley of shadow, lift your eyes up.
Lift Your Eyes Up
A couple of years ago I wrote a post on the merits of being relentlessly cheerful, and this post is in it’s way a reprise of that one. I can’t help it. It seems to be part of my calling, so to speak, to be hopeful and infect others with that sense as well. I lift my eyes up, and I point, saying ‘there is hope. There is a way out of the soul-sucking slim…