A Regular Sort of a Guy

Eugene O'Neill 1888 (Times Square) – 1953 (Boston)



He fights where the fighting is thickest
And keeps his high honor clean;
From finish to start, he is sturdy of heart,
Shunning the petty and mean;
With his friends in their travail and sorrow,
He is ever there to stand by,
And hark to their plea, for they all know that he
Is a regular sort of a guy.

He cheers up the sinner repentant
And sets him again on his feet;
He is there with a slap, and a pat on the back,
For the lowliest bum on the street;
He smiles when the going is hardest,
With a spirit no money can buy;
And take it from me, we all love him 'cause he
Is a regular sort of a guy.

I don't care for the praise of the nations,
Or a niche in the great hall of fame,
Or that posterity should remember me
When my dust and the dust are the same;
But my soul will be glad if my friends say
As they turn from my bier with a sigh
"Though he left no great name, yet he played out the game
Like a regular sort of a guy."

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

59 sec read
62

Quick analysis:

Scheme xaxaxbcB xdxdxbcB xecexbeb
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 908
Words 198
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 8, 8, 8

Eugene O'Neill

Eugene O'Neill is an Irish sportsperson. more…

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