MYSELF

 

                MYSELF

            “Myself” is the title of a famous poem written by the American poet Edgar Albert Guest.                 

            It reads as follows:

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,

To  look at myself straight in the eye.

I don’t want to stand with the setting sun

And hate myself for the things I’ve done.

 

I don’t want to hide on a closet to shelf

A lot of secrets about myself,

And fool myself as I come and go

Into thinking that nobody else will know

What kind of man I really am;

I don’t want to dress myself in sham.

 

I want to go out with my head erect,

I want to deserve all men’s respect

And 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 can never see,

I know, what others may never know ,

 never can fool myself, and so,

Whatever happens, I want to be

Self-respecting and conscience free.

 

            Edgar Albert Guest (1881-1959) was a British-born American poet. He wrote delightful optimistic poetry which made him very popular. He is also known as “the people’s poet” because of his poems about everyday life.

 

            According to a literary critic, the poem reproduced above explores the importance of “self-acceptance and living authentically.”

 

            Look at the following concluding lines of the poem:          

 

I want to be able to like myself.

I don’t want to look at myself and know

That I’m a bluster and bluff and empty show.

Whatever happens, I want to be

Self-respecting and conscience free.

 

                        ********     

G.R.Kanwal

5^th July 2025