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Can’t by Edgar Albert Guest
Can’t by Edgar Albert Guest
Can’t by Edgar Albert Guest
Can’t by Edgar Albert Guest
Can’t by Edgar Albert Guest
Can’t by Edgar Albert Guest
Can’t by Edgar Albert Guest
Can’t by Edgar Albert Guest
Can’t by Edgar Albert Guest

Can’t

by Edgar Albert Guest

Regular price
$67.50
Sale price
$54.00

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Quantity must be 1 or more

Each print might look a little different since each one is hand aged.

Overview
  • Handmade Item
  • Print Sizes: 8 x 10; 8.5 x 11; 11 x 14
  • Frame Sizes: 8 x 10; 11 x 13; 11 x 14; 14 x 17 
  • Frame Material: Barnwood
  • Framed with glass
  • Made to order
  • Questions? Contact us!

 

    Humor-ous Description: Display a piece of classic literature with its age and character intact. A unique addition to anyone’s den, office, study, foyer, billiard room, or ballroom. Or maybe you want it in the bathroom, and hey, who are we to judge? We could go on and on trying to combine complicated adjectives to motivate you to purchase our product, in fact we wish we could. But we can’t. We're too busy doing things like trying to age paper without it disintegrating in our hands, or getting our fingers stuck in the mechanism of a 71 year-old death-trap of a typewriter. (Wall behind print not included.)

    Humor-less Description: We’ve hand typed the poem "Can’t" by Edgar Albert Guest. (11 x 14 prints are machine printed using high-quality pigment based inks and are hand-aged.) All our prints use paper we have personally aged through our own multi-staged process. The pictures are taken without glass so you can see the detail, but be assured framed prints will ship with glass installed!

      Processing Time & Shipping
      • Free Shipping: Our products are handmade to order and will ship out in 3 business days. If you need it sooner, please select upgraded shipping at checkout.
      • Upgraded Shipping: All orders with upgraded shipping purchased at checkout will be rush processed and shipped out the next business day (if ordered by 5pm EST).
      • Not sure if you'll receive it in time? Please click here to contact us or use our live chat and we'll be happy to help!
      • Returns: Don’t like it? Send it back in 30 days for a full refund! (See the bottom of the page for a link to our full refund policy.)

       

      Frame Styles
      • Unframed Print (Available in 8 x 10; 8.5 x 11; 11 x 14): Hand-typed aged print mounted on backing board in a protective plastic sleeve. (Shipped in a sturdy-mailer)
      • The Fitzgerald: Hand-typed aged print mounted in a minimalistic 8 x 10 rustic wood frame.
      • The Frost: Hand-typed aged print mounted in an 8 x 10 rustic wood frame surrounded by a hand-twisted copper wire tree. (Copper has patina finish).
      • The Hemingway: Hand-aged 11 x 14 print mounted in a minimalistic rustic wood frame. 
      • The Thoreau: Hand-typed aged 8.5 x 11 print suspended in between two sheets of glass and framed in minimalistic rustic wood. 
      • The Orwell: Hand-typed aged 8 x 10 print mounted in a beautiful multi-depth barnwood style frame. (11 x 13 total frame size.)
      • The Emerson: Hand-aged 11 x 14 print mounted in a beautiful multi-depth barnwood style frame. (14 x 17 total frame size.)
        Poem Text
        Can’t

        Can't is the worst word that's written or spoken;
        Doing more harm here than slander and lies;
        On it is many a strong spirit broken,
        And with it many a good purpose dies.
        It springs from the lips of the thoughtless each morning
        And robs us of courage we need through the day:
        It rings in our ears like a timely-sent warning
        And laughs when we falter and fall by the way.

        Can't is the father of feeble endeavor,
        The parent of terror and half-hearted work;
        It weakens the efforts of artisans clever,
        And makes of the toiler an indolent shirk.
        It poisons the soul of the man with a vision,
        It stifles in infancy many a plan;
        It greets honest toiling with open derision
        And mocks at the hopes and the dreams of a man.

        Can't is a word none should speak without blushing;
        To utter it should be a symbol of shame;
        Ambition and courage it daily is crushing;
        It blights a man's purpose and shortens his aim.
        Despise it with all of your hatred of error;
        Refuse it the lodgment it seeks in your brain;
        Arm against it as a creature of terror,
        And all that you dream of you some day shall gain.

        Can't is the word that is foe to ambition,
        An enemy ambushed to shatter your will;
        Its prey is forever the man with a mission
        And bows but to courage and patience and skill.
        Hate it, with hatred that's deep and undying,
        For once it is welcomed 'twill break any man;
        Whatever the goal you are seeking, keep trying
        And answer this demon by saying: "I can."

        Edgar Albert Guest
        1916
        Additional Information
        Like the style, but not the poem?
        Be sure to check out our other prints, or create your own custom print!