8 Father's Day Poem Quotes

Do you have trouble figuring out what to say on Father's Day? Do the greeting cards all seem either too sappy or too lighthearted? Every year, I aim to strike the right chord between heartfelt and amusing when I sit down to write a Father's Day card, but that's always easier said than done. Father's day poem quotes are an excellent solution to this problem. Everyone can't be a wordsmith, so why not take advantage of the expertise of professionals who can more cleverly or more sincerely express their love and admiration?

After all, you don't want to write something way too serious that might make your dad (or yourself) uncomfortable. On the other hand, you want to make sure that your card expresses how important your dad is to you, too. When you use inspiring or funny Father's Day quotes or a verse from a poem, you get the best of both worlds. Plus, you can finally put all that reading you did in your freshman English lit class to use by quoting a classic poet like Walt Whitman or Elizabeth Barrett Browning. Here are eight Father's Day poem quotes that would be a thoughtful addition to any Father's Day gift.

1. "Only a dad but he gives his all / To smooth the way for his children small / Doing with courage stern and grim / The deeds that his father did for him. / This is the line that for him I pen: / Only a dad, but the best of men." — Edgar Guest, "Only A Dad"

2. "Most truly honoured, and as truly dear, / If worth in me or ought do I appear, / Who can of right better demand the same / Than may your worthy self from whom it came?" — Anne Bradstreet, "To Her Father with Some Verses"

3. "Walk alongside me, daddy / and hold my little hand. / I have so many things to learn / that I don't yet understand. / Every child needs a gentle hand / to hold them as they grow. / So walk alongside me, Daddy. / We have a long way to go." — Helen Bush, "Walk With Me Daddy"

4. “No thoughts of fondness e’er appear / More fond, than those I write of here! / No name can e’er on tablet shine, / My father! more beloved than thine!" — Elizabeth Barrett Browning, "To My Father on His Birthday"

5. “I gave little thought in my formative years / of the reason for Dad's raspy mitts: / The love in the toil, the dirt and the oil, / rusty plumbing that gave those hands fits! / Thinking back, misty-eyed, and thinking ahead, / when one day my time is done. / The torch of love in my own wrinkled hands / will pass on to the hands of my son.” — David Ketter, "My Dad's Hands"

6. “In conversation father can / Do many wondrous things; / He’s built upon a wiser plan / Than presidents or kings. / He knows the ins and outs of each / And every deep transaction; / We look to him for theories, / But look to ma for action.” — Edgar Guest, "Father"

7. “A little girl needs Daddy / For many, many things: / Like holding her high off the ground / Where the sunlight sings! / Like being the great mountain / That rises in her heart / And shows her how she might get home / When all else falls apart." — Unknown, "A Little Girl Needs Daddy"

8. “Fathers... / Rise at dawn. / Stand up strong. / Fix and build. / Forge the way. / Take time to play. / Spoil our moms. / Keep homelife calm. / And all because / of selfless love.” — Richelle Goodrich, Making Wishes: Quotes, Thoughts & a Little Poetry for Every Day of the Year

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