Sam Walter Foss

• Born: June 19, 1858
• Birthplace: Candia, NH
• Died: 1911

A poet, journalist, and humorist, Sam Walter Foss is best known for his inspirational poem, "The House By the Side of the Road," which includes the line "Let me live in a house by the side of the road/And be a friend to man." Born in rural New England, Foss graduated from Portsmouth (New Hampshire) High School, and earned his bachelor's degree from Brown University in 1882. As owner and editor of the Lynn, MA, Saturday Union newspaper, Foss wrote a weekly humor column. In 1891, he moved to Boston where he wrote first for the Yankee Blade and later the Boston Globe. In 1898, Sam Walter Foss was appointed Librarian of the Somerville Public Library, a position he held for 13 years until his death in 1911. During that same period, Foss was also a regular contributor to the Christian Science Monitor. Under Foss's direction, the Somerville Public Library grew to be New England's second largest library in circulation.

Most Famous Works

• Dreams in Homespun (1897)
• Songs of the Average Man (1907)

Quotes:

"Let me live in a house by the side of the road and be a friend to man."

"Bring me men to match my mountains: Bring me men to match my plains: Men with empires in their purpose and new eras in their brains."

"He was a friend to man, and lived in a house by the side of the road. HOMERThere are hermit souls that live withdrawnIn 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 pathsWhere highways never ran;But let me live by the side of the roadAnd be a friend to man. Let me live in a house by the side of the road,Where the race of men go byThe men who are good and the men who are bad,As good and as bad as I. I would not sit in the scorners seat,Or hurl the cynics ban;Let me live in a house by the side of the roadAnd 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 ardor of hope,The men who are faint with the strife. But I turn not away from their smiles nor their tearsBoth parts of an infinite plan;Let me live in my house by the side of the roadAnd be a friend to man. I know there are brook-gladdened meadows aheadAnd mountains of wearisome height;That the road passes on through the long afternoonAnd 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 roadLike a man who dwells alone. Let me live in my house by the side of the roadWhere the race of men go byThey are good, they are bad, they are weak, they are strong,Wise, foolishso am I. Then why should I sit in the scorners seatOr hurl the cynics ban?Let me live in my house by the side of the roadAnd be a friend to man."

Sam Walter Foss

Sam Walter Foss, June 19, 1858 - February 26,1911, was a librarian and poet whose most famous works included "The House by the Side of the Road" and "The Coming American."

He was born in rural Candia, New Hampshire. Foss lost his mother at age four, worked on his father's farm and went to school in the winter. He graduated from Brown University in 1882, and would be considered illustrious enough to warrant having his name inscribed on the mace. Beginning in 1898, he served as librarian at the Somerville Public Library in Massachusetts. He married a minister's daughter, with whom he had a daughter and son. Foss used to write a poem a day for the newspapers, and his five volumes of collected poetry are of the frank and homely “common man” variety.

"Bring me men to match my mountains, Bring me men to match my plains, Men with empires in their purpose, And new eras in their brains."

-- Sam Walter Foss, from "The Coming American", July 4, 1894

These words were inscribed on a granite wall at the United States Air Force Academy to inspire cadets and officers, but they were removed in 2003.

He is buried in the North Burial Ground in Providence, Rhode Island.

Works

• The Song of the Library Staff (1906) - 26 pages
• Songs of the Average Man (1907) - 207 pages

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