BY THE SIDE OF THE ROAD:

Where it is: It's located at the junction of routes 43 and 101 in Candia.

When the sign was erected: Historic marker number 141 was placed in 1981.

What the sign says: Candia is the birthplace of the well known poet, journalist and publisher, Sam Walter Foss. Son of Dyer and Polly Foss, he was born June 19, 1858. His homespun verse and country poems were great favorites. "The House By the Side of the Road," the most popular, was believed to have been inspired by his boyhood home, on Brown Road, in this town.

There are hermit

souls that live withdrawn

In 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 paths

Where highways never ran;-

But let me live by the side of the road

And be a friend to man.

Let me live in a house

by the side of the road,

Where the race of men go by-

The men who are good and the men who are bad,

As good and as bad as I.

I would not sit in the scorner's seat,

Or hurl the cynic's ban;-

Let me live in a house by the side of the road

And 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 tears-

Both parts of an infinite plan;-

Let me live in my house by the side of the road

And be a friend to man.

I know there are brook-gladdened

meadows ahead

And mountains of wearisome height;

That the road passes on through the long afternoon

And stretches away to the night.

But still I rejoice when the travelers rejoice,

And weep with the strangers that moan,

Nor live in my house by the side of the road

Like a man who dwells alone.

Let me live in my

house by the side of the road

Where the race of men go by-

They are good, they are bad, they are weak, they are strong,

Wise, foolish- so am I.

Then why should I sit in the scorner's seat

Or hurl the cynic's ban?-

Let me live in my house by the side of the road

And be a friend to man.

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