Though some may yearn for titles great, and seek the frills of fame, <br />I do not care to have an extra handle to my name. <br />I am not hungry for the pomp of life's high dignities, <br />I do not sigh to sit among the honored LL. D.'s. <br />I shall be satisfied if I can be unto the end, <br />To those I know and live with here, a simple, first-name friend. <br /> <br />There's nothing like the comradeship which warms the lives of those <br />Who make the glorious circle of the Jacks and Bills and Joes. <br />With all his majesty and power, Old Caesar never knew <br />The joy of first-name fellowship, as all the Eddies do. <br />Let them who will be 'mistered' here and raised above the rest; <br />I hold a first-name greeting is by far the very best. <br /> <br />Acquaintance calls for dignity. You never really know <br />The man on whom the terms of pomp you feel you must bestow. <br />Professor William Joseph Wise may be your friend, but still <br />You are not certain of the fact till you can call him Bill. <br />But hearts grow warm and lips grow kind, and all the shamming ends, <br />When you are in the company of good old first-name friends. <br /> <br />The happiest men on earth are not the men of highest rank; <br />That joy belongs to George, and Jim, to Henry and to Frank; <br />With them the prejudice of race and creed and wealth depart, <br />And men are one in fellowship and always light of heart. <br />So I would live and laugh and love until my sun descends, <br />And share the joyous comradeship of honest first-name friends.<br /><br />Edgar Albert Guest<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/first-name-friends/
