Only A Dad | Spencer W. Kimball

Only a Dad

Only a dad, with a tired face,
Coming home from the daily race;
Bringing little of gold and fame
To show how well he has played the game,
But glad in his heart that his own rejoice
To see him come home and to hear his voice.

Only a dad, of a brood of four,
One of ten million men or more,
Plodding along in the daily strife,
Bearing the whips and scorns of life
With never a whimper of pain or hate,
For the sake of those who at home await.

Only a dad, neither rich nor proud,
Merely one of the surging crowd,
Toiling, striving, from day to day,
Facing whatever may come his way;
Silent, whenever the harsh condemn,
And bearing it all for the love of them.

Only a dad, but he gives his all
To smooth the way for his children small;
Doing, with courage stern and grim,
The deeds that his father did for him.
These are the lines that for him I pen;
Only a dad, but the best of men

(Edgar A. Guest. Source Book of Poetry, Al Bryant, comp.; Grand Rapids, Zondervan Publishing House, 1968.)

Recited by Spencer W. Kimball, Boys Need Heroes Close By, General Conference for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, April 1976

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/1976/04/boys-need-heroes-close-by?id=p5,p7-p30,p60&lang=eng#p5