In the early days of this country the time and thought of the
settlers were taken up in struggling with the difficulties of their
surroundings, so that there was little opportunity for the
establishment of an American literature. For art, poetry, and the
beautiful in life, the colonists naturally turned to the mother
country--to the home which they had so lately left. During the period
before the French and Indian War the subject of religion and nice
points of doctrine filled the minds of the Americans, hence we find
that the first American writer who attained to a European reputation
was the Rev. Jonathan Edwards, a distinguished divine and president
of Princeton College. His books on "The Religious Affections" and
"The Freedom of the Will" are still studied.
After the French and Indian War, politics became the absorbing topic
of the day, and Benjamin Franklin was the first to achieve fame in
this field of letters. His writings in "Poor Richard's Almanac,"
honest and wholesome in tone, exercised a marked influence upon the
literature of his time. Among the orators who won distinction in the
discussion of civil liberty are James Otis, John and Samuel Adams,
and Patrick Henry. The writings of John Jay, Alexander Hamilton, and
James Madison in _The Federalist_ secured the adoption of the
Constitution and survive to this day as brilliant examples of
political essays, while the state papers of George Washington and
Thomas Jefferson are models of clearness and elegance of style.
With the peace and prosperity that followed the establishment of our
republic came the opportunity to cultivate the broader fields of
literature. Relieved of the strain of the struggle for civil and
religious liberty, the people could satisfy their inclinations toward
the beautiful in art and life, and from that time until the present
day the writers of America have held their own in the front ranks
of the authors of the English-speaking peoples.
JOSEPH RODMAN DRAKE, the first American poet to win
distinction, was born in New York City in 1795. He was educated in
Columbia College. He died prematurely when only twenty-five years old.
His best-known poems are "The Culprit Fay" and "The American Flag."
He was the intimate friend of Fitz-Greene Halleck, the Connecticut
poet, author of "Marco Bozzaris." The last four lines of Drake's
"American Flag" were written by Fitz-Greene Halleck.
WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT was born in Cummington, Massachusetts,
November 3, 1794. He was educated at Williams College. He studied
law and was admitted to the bar. His first poem was published when
he was thirteen. His best-known poem, "Thanatopsis," was written
when he was only nineteen and delivered at his college commencement.
After practicing law for a short time, he became editor of _The
Evening Post_ and continued this work until his death. When he was
seventy-two, he began his translation of Homer, which occupied him
for six years. He died in 1878.
RALPH WALDO EMERSON was born in Boston, May 20, 1803. He
studied at Harvard College, and after a period of teaching, became
pastor of a Unitarian church in Boston for a short time. Later he
settled in Concord, spending his time in writing and lecturing in
this country and England. He was the founder of what has been called
"The Concord School of Philosophy." His best-known poems are "The
Concord Hymn," "Rhodora," "The Snow Storm," "Each and All," "The
Days," and "The Humble Bee." He died in 1882.
HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW was born in Portland, Maine,
February 27, 1807. He was educated at Bowdoin College and, after a
period of study abroad, was appointed professor of Foreign Languages
there. This position he gave up to become professor of Modern
Languages and Literature at Harvard College. At Cambridge he was a
friend of Hawthorne, Holmes, Emerson, Lowell, and Alcott. His
best-known long poems are "Evangeline," "Hiawatha," "The Building
of the Ship," and "The Courtship of Miles Standish." He made a fine
translation of Dante's "Divine Comedy." Among his many short poems,
"Excelsior," "The Psalm of Life," "The Wreck of the Hesperus," "The
Village Blacksmith," and "Paul Revere's Ride" are continuously
popular. He died in 1882. He was the first American writer who was
honored by a memorial in Westminster Abbey.
JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER was born near Haverhill, Massachusetts,
December 17, 1807. He was educated in the public school, working at
the same time on his father's farm or at making shoes. Having left
the academy, he devoted himself to literature. He was an ardent
abolitionist, and many of his poems are written to aid the cause of
freedom in which he was so deeply interested. His best-known poems
are "Snow-Bound," "Barbara Frietchie," "Maude Muller," and "Voices of
Freedom." He died in 1892.
EDGAR ALLAN POE was born in Boston, Massachusetts, January 19,
1809. The story of his life is as melancholy as was his genius.
Wild, dissipated, reckless, he was dismissed from West Point. He
alienated his best friends and lived the greatest part of his life in
the deepest poverty, dying in 1849 from the effects of dissipation
and exposure. His best poems are "The Raven," "The Bells," and
"Annabel Lee."
OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts,
August 29, 1809. He was educated at Harvard College and studied
medicine, spending two years in the hospitals of Europe. He was
successively professor of Anatomy and Physiology at Dartmouth
College, a physician in regular practice in Boston, and professor of
anatomy at Harvard College--this position he held from 1847 to 1882.
He was nearly fifty before he became widely known as a writer, when
"The Autocrat of the Breakfast Table" was published. He was successful
as essayist, novelist, poet, a kindly wit playing through much of his
work. His best-known poems are "Old Ironsides," "The Chambered
Nautilus," "The One-hoss Shay," "The Last Leaf," and "The Boys." He
died in 1894.
JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts,
February 22, 1819. He was educated at Harvard College. He succeeded
Longfellow as professor of Modern Languages and Literature at
Harvard. He was also editor of the _Atlantic Monthly_ and of
the _North American Review_. He was appointed minister to Spain
and later to England, where he was our ambassador for five years. His
best-known poems are "The Vision of Sir Launfal," "Commemoration Ode,"
"The Biglow Papers," "The Present Crisis," and "The First Snowfall."
He died in 1891.
WALT WHITMAN was born in West Hills, Long Island, May 31, 1819.
He was unable to go to college. He served in various occupations,
teacher, printer, writer, until in the great Civil War he volunteered
as a war nurse. His exertions and exposure in this work destroyed his
health, so that most of his remaining years he was dependent upon his
friends. His most beautiful poem is "O Captain, My Captain," written
after the assassination of Lincoln. He died in 1892.
CINCINNATUS HEINE MILLER, who wrote under the name of Joaquin
Miller, was born in Indiana in 1841. While yet a boy he went to Oregon
and later to California, where he led a wild life among the miners,
fighting the Indians, practicing law, and becoming a county judge.
After several years in Europe and New York, he settled down as a
fruit grower in California. He wrote "Songs of the Sierras," "Songs
of the Sun-Lands," and "The Ship in the Desert."
AMONG THE MINOR AMERICAN POETS the following are worthy of
note:--