There Is A Certain Yankee Phrase I Always Have Revered, Yet, Somehow, In These Modern Days, It's Almost Disappeared; It Was The Usage Years Ago, But Nowadays It's Got To Be Regarded Coarse And Low To Answer: "I Guess Not!" The Height Of Fashion Called The Pink Affects A British Craze-- Prefers "I Fancy" Or "I Think" To That Time-Honored Phrase; But Here'S A Yankee, If You Please, That Brands The Fashion Rot, And To All Heresies Like These He Answers, "I--Guess Not!"-- When Chaucer, Wycliff, And The Rest Express Their Meaning Thus, I Guess, If Not The Very Best, It's Good Enough For Us! Why! Shall The Idioms Of Our Speech Be Banished And Forgot For This Vain Trash Which Moderns Teach? Well, No, Sir; I Guess Not! There'S Meaning In That Homely Phrase No Other Words Express-- No Substitute Therefor Conveys Such Unobtrusive Stress. True Anglo-Saxon Speech, It Goes Directly To The Spot, And He Who Hears It Always Knows The Worth Of "I--Guess--Not!"