The Out-Doors Man
By Edgar A. Guest

From all-creatures.org
SPIRITUAL AND
INSPIRATIONAL
POETRY ARCHIVES

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The Out-Doors Man
By Edgar A. Guest

He must come back a better man,
Beneath the summer bronze and tan,
Who turns his back on city strife
To neighbor with the trees;
He must be stronger for the fight
And see with clearer eye the right,
Who fares beneath the open sky
And welcomes every breeze.

The man who loves all living things
Enough to go where Nature flings
Her glories everywhere about,
And dwell with them awhile,
Must be, when he comes back once more,
A little better than before,
A little surer of his faith
And readier to smile.

He never can be wholly bad
Who seeks the sunshine and is glad
To hear a songbird’s melody
Or wade a laughing stream;
Nor worse than when he went away
Will he return at close of day
Who’s chummed with happy birds and trees,
And taken time to dream.