"Gingillino," Part II,--_Giusti_.
GIUSEPPI GIUSTI, a notable Italian poet and political satirist, was born
in Monsummano, May 12, 1809, and died in Florence, March 31, 1850. His
first masterpiece was the poem "Dies Iræ," other pieces are: "The Boot,"
"The Crowned," "The Investiture of a Knight," and the satires written
from 1847 to 1849.
Each hour until we meet is as a bird
That wings from far his gradual way along
The rustling covert of my soul--his song
Still loudlier trilled through leaves more deeply stirr'd:
But at the hour of meeting, a clear word
Is every note he sings, in Love's own tongue.
"Winged Hours," Sonnet xv,--_Dante Gabriel Rossetti_.
DANTE GABRIEL ROSSETTI, the renowned English painter and poet, was born
in London, May 12, 1828, and died at Birchington, Kent, April 9, 1882.
Among his poetical works are: "Blessed Damozel," "Sister Helen," "The
White Ship," "The House of Life," "The King's Tragedy," "Hand and Soul,"
and "Rose Mary." Also: translations of "Early Italian Poets."
To tremble, when I touch her hands,
With awe that no man understands;
To feel soft reverence arise
When, lover-sweet, I meet her eyes;
To see her beauty grow and shine
When most I feel this awe divine,--
Whate'er befall me, this is mine;
And whereabout the room she moves,
My spirit follows her, and loves.
"Divine Awe,"--_George Edward Woodberry_.
GEORGE EDWARD WOODBERRY, a famous American poet and miscellaneous
writer, was born at Beverly, Mass., May 12, 1855. He has written: "The
North Shore Watch, and Other Poems," "History of Wood Engraving," "Life
of Edgar Allan Poe," "The Flight and Other Poems," "North Africa and
the Desert," "Shakespeare: An Address," "Great Writers," "Poems," "The
Inspiration of Poetry," "Wendell Phillips," "Two Phases of Criticism,"
"Ideal Passion" (sonnets).
Work, and thou wilt bless the day
Ere the toil be done;
They that work not, can not pray,
Can not feel the sun.
God is living, working still,
All things work and move;
Work, or lose the power to will,
Lose the power to love.
"Working,"--_John Sullivan Dwight_.
JOHN SULLIVAN DWIGHT, a noted American musical critic, was born at
Boston, May 13, 1813, and died September 5, 1893. His noted poem is,
"God Save the State."
Children are like grown people; the experience of others is never
of any use to them.
--_Alphonse Daudet_.
ALPHONSE DAUDET, a distinguished French novelist, was born at Nîmes, May
13, 1840, and died December 16, 1897. He wrote: "The Little Thing: Story
of a Child," "Letters from My Mill," "Monday Tales," "Fromont, Jr. and
Risler, Sr.," "The Nabob," "Kings in Exile," "Numa Roumestan," "The
Gospeller," "Sappho," "Tartarin," "Prodigious Adventures of Tartarin,"
"Tartarin in the Alps," "Port Tarascon," "Thirty Years of Paris,"
"Recollections of a Man of Letters," etc.
Columbia, Columbia, to glory arise,
The queen of the world and the child of the skies!
Thy genius commands thee; with rapture behold,
While ages on ages thy splendors unfold.
"Columbia,"--_Timothy Dwight_.
TIMOTHY DWIGHT, a celebrated American Congregational clergyman, was born
in Northampton, Mass., May 14, 1752, and died in New Haven, Conn.,
January 11, 1817. He wrote: "Observations on Language," "Essay on
Light," "Greenfield Hill" "Travels in New England and New York,"
"Theology Explained and Defended," etc.
"You can never say too much about Coleridge to me," Rossetti would
write, "for I worship him on the right side of idolatry, and I
perceive you know him well." Upon this one of my first remarks was
that there was much in Coleridge's higher descriptive verse
equivalent to the landscape art of Turner. The critical parallel
Rossetti warmly approved of, adding however, that Coleridge, at
his best as a pictorial artist, was a spiritualised Turner.
"Recollections of Dante Gabriel Rossetti,"--_Hall Caine_.
SIR THOMAS HENRY HALL CAINE, an eminent English novelist, was born at
Runcorn, Cheshire, May 14, 1853. His most noted works are: "The
Deemster," "A Son of Hagar," "Recollections of Rossetti," "The
Scapegoat," "The Shadow of a Crime," "The Manxman," "The Christian,"
"The White Prophet," "The Prodigal Son," "The Woman Thou Gavest Me,"
etc. Also: "The Drama of 365 Days," "Scenes in the Great War,"
"Britain's Daughters," etc.
Sooth 'twere a pleasant life to lead,
With nothing in the world to do
But just to blow a shepherd's reed,
The silent season thro'
And just to drive a flock to feed,--
Sheep, quiet, fond and few!
"Dolce far Niente," Stanza I,--_Laman Blanchard_.
SAMUEL LAMAN BLANCHARD, a noted British author and journalist, was born
May 15, 1804, and died February 15, 1845. He published "Lyric
Offerings," etc.; and edited numerous magazine journals.
The deeper the feeling the less demonstrative will be the
expression of it.
--_Balzac_.
HONORÉ DE BALZAC, the greatest of French novelists, was born in Tours,
May 16, 1799, and died in Paris, August 18, 1850. He wrote in all about
97 celebrated novels. Among them: "Le Vieille Fille," "Contrat De
Marriage," "Le Colonel Chabert," "Les Chouans," "Pierrette,"
"Seraphita," "Les Employés," "Modeste Mignon," "Histoire Des Treize,"
"Début Dans La Vie," "Ursule Mirouet," "Eugène Grandet," "Cousin Pons,"
"Le Père Goriot," "Les Paysans," "Cousine Bette," etc., etc.
Les grandes ne sont grands que parceque nous sommes à genoux;
Relevons nous.[3]
"Revolutions de Paris," Motto.--_Prudhomme_.
RENÉ FRANÇOIS ARMAND SULLY-PRUDHOMME, a famous French poet, was born at
Paris, May 16, 1839, and died in 1907. He has written: "The Broken
Vase," "Stanzas and Poems," "The Stables of Augeas," "The Wildernesses,"
"Revolt of the Flowers," "Reflections on the Art of Versification," etc.
To think, and to feel, constitute the two grand divisions of men
of genius--the men of reasoning and the men of imagination.
"Literary Character of Men of Genius," Ch. II,--_Isaac
Disraeli_.
ISAAC DISRAELI, a distinguished English literary essayist, compiler and
historian, was born at Enfield in Middlesex, May 17, 1766, and died
January 9, 1848. Among his writings are: "Curiosities of Literature,"
"Calamities of Authors," "Quarrels of Authors," "Miscellanies, or
Literary Recollections," etc. Also: "Commentaries on the Life and Reign
of Charles I."
A monument to Newton! a monument to Shakespeare! Look up to
Heaven--look into the Human Heart. Till the planets and the
passions--the affections and the fixed stars are
extinguished--their names cannot die.
"Noctes Ambrosianæ," Vol. iii,--_John Wilson_.
JOHN WILSON (CHRISTOPHER NORTH), a noted Scottish writer, was born May
18, 1785, at Paisley, and died April 3, 1854. Among his works are: "The
Isle of Palms," "The City of the Plague," "Lights and Shadows of
Scottish Life," "The Trials of Margaret Lindsay," "The Foresters," etc.
Not alone to know, but to act according to thy knowledge, is thy
destination,--proclaims the voice of my inmost soul. Not for
indolent contemplation and study of thyself, nor for brooding over
emotions of piety--no, for action was existence given thee; thy
actions, and thy actions alone, determine thy worth.
--_Fichte_.
JOHANN GOTTLIEB FICHTE, a renowned German philosopher, was born at
Rammenau in Upper Lusatia, May 19, 1762, and died at Berlin, January 27,
1814. Among his works are: "Foundations of the Whole Doctrine of
Science," "Introduction to the Doctrine of Science," "The Doctrine of
Science," "System of Moral Doctrine," "Man's Destiny," and his
celebrated treatise, "Essay Toward a Critique of All Revelation."
The worth of a state, in the long run, is the worth of the
individuals composing it.
--_John Stuart Mill_.
JOHN STUART MILL, a famous English philosophical writer, logician, and
political economist, was born in London, May 20, 1806, and died at
Avignon, France, May 8, 1873. Among the most important of his works are:
"Essay on Liberty," "Logic," "Political Economy," "On the Subjection of
Women," "Examination of Sir William Hamilton's Philosophy," "Auguste
Comte and Positivism," and "Utilitarianism." His "Autobiography"
appeared in 1873.
It was the calm and silent night!
Seven hundred years and fifty-three
Had Rome been growing up to might,
And now was queen of land and sea.
No sound was heard of clashing wars,
Peace brooded o'er the hushed domain;
Apollo, Pallas, Jove, and Mars
Held undisturbed their ancient reign,
In the solemn midnight
Centuries ago.
"Christmas Hymn,"--_Alfred Domett_.
ALFRED DOMETT, a noted British statesman and poet, was born at
Camberwell Grove, Surrey, May 20, 1811, and died in 1887. The best
known of his works are: "Ranolf and Amohia, a South Sea Day Dream," and
"Flotsam and Jetsam: Rhymes Old and New."
Awake, my St. John! leave all meaner things
To low ambition and the pride of kings.
Let us (since life can little more supply
Than just to look about us, and to die)
Expatiate free o'er all this scene of man;
A mighty maze! but not without a plan.
"Essay on Man," Epistle i, Line 1,--_Alexander Pope_.
ALEXANDER POPE, the renowned English poet, was born at London, May 21,
1688, and died at Twickenham on the Thames, May 30, 1744. His most
famous works are: "Homer's Odyssey," "The Iliad of Homer," translated,
"Epistles from Eloisa to Abelard," "The Rape of the Lock," "The Temple
of Fame," "Essay on Criticism," "The Dunciad," "Imitations of Horace,"
"Essay on Man," etc.
"It is more than a crime; it is a political fault,"--words which I
record, because they have been repeated and attributed to others.
"Memoirs,"--_Fouché_.
JOSEPH FOUCHÉ (DUKE OF OTRANTO), a celebrated French statesman, was born
May 21, 1759, and died in 1820. A few of his famous political pamphlets
and reports are: "Réflexions sur le jugement de Louis Cofret,"
"Réflexions sur l'éducation publique," "Rapport et project de loi
relatif aux Collèges," etc.
A sudden thought strikes me,--let us swear an eternal friendship.
"The Rovers,"--_J. H. Frere_.
JOHN HOOKHAM FRERE, a noted English poet, translator, and diplomatist,
was born in London, May 21, 1769, and died in Malta, January 7, 1846. He
produced: the "Prospectus and Specimen of an Intended National Work...
Relating to King Arthur and his Round Table," known as "The Monks and
the Giants"; a literary burlesque, and numerous translations.
A sound so fine, there's nothing lives
'Twixt it and silence.
"Virginius," Act v, Sc. 2 (1784-1862),--_James Sheridan
Knowles_.
JAMES SHERIDAN KNOWLES, a famous Irish actor, lecturer and dramatist,
was born at Cork, May 21, 1784, and died at Torquay, England, November
30, 1862. Among his dramas are: "Caius Gracchus," "William Tell,"
"Alfred the Great," "The Wife: a Tale of Mantua," "The Rose of Aragon,"
and his three masterpieces, "Virginius," "The Hunchback," and "The Love
Chase."
Unconsciousness is one of the most important conditions of a good
style in speaking or in writing.
--_Richard Grant White_.
RICHARD GRANT WHITE, an eminent American journalist, critic, and
Shakespearean scholar, was born in New York City, May 22, 1822, and died
there, April 8, 1885. Among his books are: "National Hymns: A Lyrical
and National Study for the Times," "Memoirs of the Life of William
Shakespeare, with an Essay Towards the Expression of His Genius,"
"Poetry of the Civil War," "Words and Their Uses," "England Without and
Within," etc.
The bow was made in England:
Of true wood, of yew-wood,
The wood of English bows;
So men who are free
Love the old yew-tree
And the land where the yew-tree grows.
"Songs of Action: Song of the Bow," etc. I,--_Sir A. Conan
Doyle_.
SIR ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE, a renowned Scotch story and romance writer, was
born in Edinburgh, May 22, 1859. His works include: "A Study in
Scarlet," "The Sign of the Four," "The White Company," "The Great
Shadow," "Adventures of Sherlock Holmes," "The Hound of the
Baskervilles," "Adventures of Gerard," "Return of Sherlock Holmes," "Sir
Nigel," "Through the Magic Door," "The Fires of Fate," "The Crime of the
Congo," "The Lost World," "The Case of Oscar Slater," "The Valley of
Fear," "A Visit to Three Fronts," "His Last Bow," etc.
I remember, I remember
The fir-trees dark and high;
I used to think their slender-tops
Were close against the sky;
It was a childish ignorance,
But now 'tis little joy
To know I'm farther off from heaven
Than when I was a boy.
"I remember, I remember,"--_Thomas Hood_.
THOMAS HOOD, the great English poet, was born in London, May 23, 1799,
and died there May 3, 1845. Among his poetical works are: "The Haunted
House," "Whims and Oddities," "The Plea of the Midsummer Fairies," and
"The Hostler's Lament," "The Bridge of Sighs," and "The Song of the
Shirt."
Chance cannot touch me! Time cannot hush me!
Fear, hope, and longing, at strife,
Sink as I rise, on, on, upward forever,
Gathering strength, gaining breath,--naught can sever
Me from the Spirit of Life!
"Dryad Song," Stanza 4,--_Margaret Fuller_.
SARAH MARGARET FULLER, Marchioness d'Ossoli, best known as "Margaret
Fuller," was born at Cambridgeport, Mass., May 23, 1810, and died in
1850. She wrote: "Art, Literature, and Drama," "At Home and Abroad,"
"Life Without and Life Within," and a collection of essays on "Women in
the Nineteenth Century."
The object of science is knowledge; the objects of art are works.
In art, truth is the means to an end; in science, it is the only
end. Hence the practical arts are not to be classed among the
sciences.
--_William Whewell_.
WILLIAM WHEWELL, a noted English philosopher and scientist, was born at
Lancaster, May 24, 1794, and died at Cambridge, March 6, 1866. Among his
works are: "History of the Inductive Sciences," "Philosophy of the
Inductive Sciences," "Lectures on Political Economy," "Elements of
Morality," etc.
If ever any poet stood in the white light of the beauty which we
call poetry, it was Mrs. Browning. Her thoughts were as fire and
her words were as fire.
"Lectures on English Literature," 1889, p. 135.--_Maurice
Francis Egan_.
MAURICE FRANCIS EGAN, a distinguished man of letters, was born in
Philadelphia, May 24, 1852 and died in 1923. His works include: "That
Girl of Mine," "That Lover of Mine," "A Garden of Roses," "Stories of
Duty," "The Life Around Us," "Lectures on English Literature," "A Primer
of English Literature," "A Gentleman," "The Flower of the Flock,"
"Preludes" (poetry), "Songs and Sonnets," "Everybody's St. Francis."
Beneath the rule of men entirely great,
The pen is mightier than the sword.
"Richelieu," Act ii, Sc. 2,--_Edward Bulwer-Lytton_.
EDWARD BULWER-LYTTON, LORD LYTTON, the renowned English novelist, poet
and dramatist, was born in London, May 25, 1803, and died in Torquay,
January 18, 1873. Among his famous novels are: "Eugene Aram," "Pelham,"
"Last Days of Pompeii," "Pilgrims of the Rhine," "Last of the Barons,"
"Ernest Maltravers," "A Strange Story," "Rienzi," "Devereux,"
"Falkland," "Harold," "The Coming Race," "The Caxtons," and three noted
dramas, "Money," "Richelieu," and "The Lady of Lyons."
I rarely read any Latin, Greek, German, Italian, sometimes not a
French book, in the original, which I can procure in a good
version. I like to be beholden to the great metropolitan English
speech, the sea which receives tributaries from every region under
heaven. I should as soon think of swimming across Charles River
when I wish to go to Boston, as of reading all my books in
originals when I have them rendered for me in my mother tongue.
"Books,"--_Ralph Waldo Emerson_.
RALPH WALDO EMERSON, the famous American philosopher, essayist and poet,
was born in Boston, May 25, 1803, and died at Concord, Mass., April 27,
1882. He wrote: "The American Scholar," "Man the Reformer," "Nature,"
"The Young American," "The Conduct of Life," "Letters and Social Aims,"
"Tribute to Walter Scott," "Society and Solitude," "Representative Men,"
"Miscellanies," "Essays," "Poems," "May Day and Other Pieces," etc.
Satire should, like a polished razor keen,
Wound with a touch that's scarcely felt or seen.
"To the Imitator of the First Satire of Horace," Book ii,--_Mary
Wortley Montagu_.
MARY WORTLEY, LADY MONTAGU, a celebrated English letter-writer, was born
at Thoresby, Notts, May 26, 1689, and died in England, August 21, 1762.
Her "Letters" won for her great literary fame.
In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea, With a
glory in His bosom that transfigures you and me; As He died to
make men holy, let us die to make men free.
"Battle Hymn of the Republic,"--_Julia Ward Howe_.
JULIA WARD HOWE, a famous American poet, essayist, lecturer, biographer,
and writer of travels, was born in New York, May 27, 1819, and died in
1910. Among her works are: "Life of Margaret Fuller," "Trip to Cuba,"
"Sex and Education," "The World's Own," "Later Lyrics," "From the Oak to
the Olive," and her celebrated "Battle Hymn of the Republic."
A cause is like champagne and high heels,--one must be prepared to
suffer for it.
"The Title,"--_Arnold Bennett_.
ENOCH ARNOLD BENNETT, a famous English author and journalist, was born
at North Staffordshire, May 27, 1867. Among his many works are: "The
Truth About an Author," "A Great Man," "The Old Wives' Tale," "The
Regent," "The Price of Love," "Over There," "War Scenes on the Western
Front," "Books and Persons," "The Pretty Lady," "The Roll Call," "Things
That Have Interested Me." Among his plays are: "Milestones" (with Edward
Knoblauch), "The Great Adventure," "The Title," "Judith," "Sacred and
Profane Love."
Whate'er there be of Sorrow
I'll put off till To-morrow
And when To-morrow comes, why then
'Twill be To-day and Joy again.
"The Word,"--_John K. Bangs_.
JOHN KENDRICK BANGS, a noted American humorist and novelist, was born
May 27, 1862, and died January 21, 1922. Among his publications are
"Coffee and Repartee," "Mr. Bonaparte of Corsica," "Water Ghost and
Other Stories," "A Houseboat on the Styx," "A Rebellious Heroine," "The
Pursuit of the Houseboat," "Olympian Nights," "Over the Plum Pudding,"
"Mollie and the Unwise Man," "The Inventions of the Idiot," "Songs of
Cheer," "Little Book of Christmas," "Line o' Cheer for Each Day of the
Year," "The Foothills of Parnassas," "From Pillar to Post," "Half-Hours
with the Idiot."
The harp that once through Tara's halls
The soul of music shed,
Now hangs as mute on Tara's walls
As if that soul were fled.
So sleeps the pride of former days,
So glory's thrill is o'er;
And hearts that once beat high for praise
Now feel that pulse no more.
"The Harp that Once Through Tara's Halls,"--_Thomas Moore_.
THOMAS MOORE, one of the greatest of Irish poets, was born at Dublin,
May 28, 1779, and died near Devizes, February 25, 1852. His most famous
works were: "Irish Melodies," "Loves of the Angels," "Odes and
Epistles," "The Twopenny Post Bag," "History of Ireland," "The
Epicurean," and "Lalla Rookh," his most famous work.
Asa Gray and Dr. Tarrey are known wherever the study of botany is
pursued. Gray, with his indefatigable zeal, will gain upon his
competitors.
"Life and Correspondence," ed. Agassiz, Vol. ii, p. 437,
Letter to Milne Edwards,--_L. Agassiz_.
JEAN LOUIS RODOLPHE AGASSIZ, a renowned Swiss naturalist, was born at
Motier, Switzerland, May 28, 1807, and died at Cambridge, Mass.,
December 14, 1873. He published: "Studies of Glaciers," "Principles of
Zoölogy," "The Structure of Animal Life," "Scientific Results of a
Journey in Brazil," etc.
Is life so dear or peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price
of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what
course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty, or give me
death!
"Speech in the Virginia Convention," March, 1775,--_Patrick
Henry_.
PATRICK HENRY, an illustrious American orator, was born at Studley, Va.,
May 29, 1736, and died at Red Hill, Va., June 6, 1799. His numerous
speeches may be found in a (3 vols.) book, entitled "Life," by William
Wirt Henry.
"Vanitas Vanitatum" has rung in the ears
Of gentle and simple for thousands of years;
The wail still is heard, yet its notes never scare
Either simple or gentle from Vanity Fair.
"Vanity Fair,"--_Frederick Locker-Lampson_.
FREDERICK LOCKER-LAMPSON, a noted English poet, was born at Greenwich,
May 29, 1821, and died in 1895. His fame rests principally upon his
"Society Verses."
In this dim world of clouding cares,
We rarely know, till wildered eyes
See white wings lessening up the skies
The angels with us unawares.
"Babe Cristabel,"--_Thomas Gerald Massey_.
(THOMAS) GERALD MASSEY, a celebrated English poet, was born near Tring,
Hertfordshire, May 29, 1828, and died October 29, 1907. He published
"Voices of Freedom and Lyrics of Love," "The Ballad of Babe Cristabel,"
"War Waits," and "A Tale of Eternity." He collected the best of these
volumes into a two-volume edition of poems called "My Lyrical Life." He
also wrote: "The Book of the Beginnings," "The Natural Genesis," and his
most important work, "Ancient Egypt: The Light of the World."
"Truths turn into dogmas the moment they are disputed."
"Heretics,"--_G. K. Chesterton_.
GILBERT KEITH CHESTERTON, a famous English author was born in London,
May 29, 1874. He has published: "Robert Browning," "Charles Dickens,"
"George Bernard Shaw," "What's Wrong with the World?" "The Victorian Age
in Literature," "The Wisdom of Father Brown," "Poems," "A Shilling for
My Thoughts," "A Short History of England," "Irish Impressions," "The
Superstition of Divorce," etc.
So long as faith with freedom reigns
And loyal hope survives,
And gracious charity remains
To leaven lowly lives;
While there is one untrodden tract
For intellect or will,
And men are free to think and act,
Life is worth living still.
"Is Life Worth Living?"--_Alfred Austin_.
ALFRED AUSTIN, a noted English poet, critic and journalist, was born at
Headingly, near Leeds, May 30, 1835, and died in 1913. He was appointed
poet laureate of England in 1896. Among his writings are: "The Golden
Age: A Satire," "The Tower of Babel," "The Human Tragedy," "Veronica's
Garden," etc.
Die Liebe wintert nicht
Nein, nein! Ist und bleibt Frühlings-Schein.[4]
"Herbstlied,"--_Ludwig Tieck_.
JOHANN LUDWIG TIECK, a celebrated German poet and miscellaneous writer,
was born in Berlin, May 31, 1773, and died there, April 28, 1853. Among
his works may be mentioned: "William Lovell," "Ostrich Plumes,"
"Abdallah," "Peter Lebrecht: A Story Without Adventures," "Prince
Zerbino," "Romantic Fancies," "Life and Death of St. Genevieve," "Love
Songs of the Suabian Past," "Old English Dramatists," "The Tourists,"
"The Old Man of the Mountain," "Society in the Country," "Dramatic
Pages," "The Betrothal," "Musical Joys and Sorrows," etc.
To me every hour of the light and dark is a miracle,
Every cubic inch of space is a miracle.
"Miracles,"--_Walt Whitman_.
WALT WHITMAN, a renowned American poet, was born at West Hills, L. I.,
May 31, 1819, and died at Camden, N. J., March 26, 1892. He wrote:
"Leaves of Grass," "As a Strong Bird on Pinions Free, and Other Poems,"
"Two Rivulets" "November Boughs," "Memoranda During the War," "Drum
Taps," "Passage to India," etc.
A brave endeavor
To do thy duty, whate'er its worth,
Is better than life with love forever,
And love is the sweetest thing on earth.
"Sir Hugo's Choice,"--_James Jeffrey Roche_.
JAMES JEFFREY ROCHE, a noted American author, was born in Queen's
County, Ireland, May 31, 1847, and died in 1908. He has written: "Songs
and Satires," "Ballads of Blue Water," "Life of John Boyle O'Reilly,"
"His Majesty the King; A Romance of the Harem," etc.