We all are lunkheads—­don’t get mad—­an’ lummuxes and gawks,
But us poor chaps who know we be—­we walk in humble walks. 
So, I say to all good lunkheads, “Keep yer own selves in the dark;
Don’t own to reckernize the fact, an’ you will make your mark.”

Next is the poem which is most quoted and best known: 

THE HOUSE BY THE SIDE OF THE ROAD

“He was a friend to man, and lived in a house
by the side of the road.”—­HOMER.

There are hermit souls that live withdrawn
In the peace of their self-content;
There are souls, like stars, that dwell apart,
In a fellowless firmament;
There are pioneer souls that blaze their paths
Where highways never ran;—­
But let me live by the side of the road
And be a friend to man.

Let me live in a house by the side of the road,
Where the race of men go by—­
The men who are good and the men who are bad,
As good and as bad as I.
I would not sit in the scorner’s seat,
Or hurl the cynic’s ban;—­
Let me live in a house by the side of the road
And be a friend to man.

I see from my house by the side of the road,
By the side of the highway of life,
The men who press with the ardour of hope,
The men who are faint with the strife. 
But I turn not away from their smiles nor their tears—­
Both parts of an infinite plan;—­
Let me live in my house by the side of the road
And be a friend to man.

I know there are brook-gladdened meadows ahead
And mountains of wearisome height;
That the road passes on through the long afternoon
And stretches away to the night. 
But still I rejoice when the travellers rejoice,
And weep with the strangers that moan,
Nor live in my house by the side of the road
Like a man who dwells alone.

Let me live in my house by the side of the road
Where the race of men go by—­
They are good, they are bad, they are weak, they are strong,
Wise, foolish—­so am I.
Then why should I sit in the scorner’s seat
Or hurl the cynic’s ban?—­
Let me live in my house by the side of the road
And be a friend to man.

Mr. Foss’s attribution to Homer used as a motto preceding his poem, “The House by the Side of the Road,” is, no doubt, his translation of a passage from the Iliad, book vi., which, as done into English prose in the translation of Lang, Leaf and Myers, is as follows: 

Then Diomedes of the loud war-cry slew Axylos, Teuthranos’ son that dwelt in stablished Arisbe, a man of substance dear to his fellows; for his dwelling was by the road-side and he entertained all men.

* * * * *

SAM WALTER FOSS