GENEALOGY POEMS

YOUR NAME

You got it from your father,
'twas the best he had to give.
And right glad he bestowed it,
It's yours while you live.
You may lose the watch he gave you
And another you may claim,
But remember, when you're tempted,
To be careful of his name.
It was fair the day you got it
And a worthy name to bear.
When he took it from his father,
There was no dishoner there.
Through the years he proudly wore it,
To his father he was true,
When he passed it on to you.
Oh, there's much that he has given
that he values not at all.
He has watched you break your playthings
In the days when you were small.
And you've scattered many a game,
But you'll never hurt your father
If you're careful with his name.
It is yours to wear forever,
Yours to wear the while you live,
Yours, perhaps, some distant morning
To another boy to give.
And you'll smile as did your father
With a smile that all can share
If a clean name and a good name
You are giving him to wear.
By: Edgar A. Guest

Dear Ancestor

Your tombstone stands among the rest
Neglected and alone.
The name and date are chiseled out
On polished, marble stone.
It reaches out to all who care
It is too late to mourn.
You did not know that I exist
You died and I was born.
Yet each of us are cells of you
In flesh, in blood, in bone.
Our blood contracts and beats a pulse
Entirely not our own.
Dear Ancestor, the place you filled
One hundred years ago
Spread out among the ones you left
Who would have loved you so.
I wonder if you lived and loved, I wonder if you knew
That someday I would find this spot,
And come to visit you.
Author Unknown