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[Newspaper clipping]
THE IMPORTANT BABY.
What is business and what is trade
To the smiling wish of a little girl
And the roguish eyes of a little maid
And her dimpled cheek and her teeth
of pearl?
And what has the wisest of looks to
say
That cannot wait when she wants to
play?

What is this duty men talk about
And face so comberly day by day,
That it should order a baby out
Or start a frown where a smile should
stay?
What's more important in life than
this,
A baby's trust and a baby's kiss?

What is the goal that is urging me
Faster and faster the hill to climb?
Is the little fortune or fame to be
Worth all my thought and all my
time?
Shall I not be blessed by my baby's
smile
Though I fail to travel the longer mile?

The songs unsung and the tasks undone
And the books unread, I shall not
regret.
These arms have cherished a litle one
These eyes have danced and are
dancing yet,
For what matters more under heaven
above
Than a baby's smile and a baby's love?
--Edgar A. Guest.
(Copyright, 1923, by Edgar A. Guest.)