FRANCESCO PETRARCH, the greatest of Italian lyric poets, was born at
Arezzo, July 20, 1304, and died at Arquà, July 18, 1374. He wrote:
"Africa," "Memoranda," "Of Contempt of the World," "Of the Solitary
Life," "Of the Remedies for Either Fortune," "Rime," "Of Illustrious
Men," "Metrical Epistles," etc.
To sea! to sea! the calm is o'er,
The wanton water leaps in sport,
And rattles down the pebbly shore,
The dolphin wheels, the sea-cows snort,
And unseen mermaid's pearly song
Comes bubbling up, the weeds among.
Fling broad the sail, dip deep the oar:
To sea! to sea! the calm is o'er.
"To Sea!"--_Thomas Lovell Beddoes_.
THOMAS LOVELL BEDDOES, a noted English poet and dramatist, was born at
Clifton, July 20, 1803, and died at Basle, January 26, 1849. He wrote:
"The Improvisatore," and "The Bride's Tragedy," "Poetical Works"
(London, 1890), and "Letters" (London, 1894), were edited by Edmond
Gosse.
Soft peace she brings; wherever she arrives
She builds our quiet as she forms our lives;
Lays the rough paths of peevish Nature even,
And opens in each heart a little heaven.
"Charity,"--_Matthew Prior_.
MATTHEW PRIOR, an eminent English poet, was born at Wimborne in
Dorsetshire, July 21, 1664, and died at Wimpole in Cambridgeshire,
September 18, 1721. Among his noted works are: "Solomon," "Alma; or, the
Progress of the Mind," and "Poems on Several Occasions."
How comes it to pass, then, that we appear such cowards in
reasoning, and are so afraid to stand the test of ridicule?
"Characteristics," A Letter Concerning Enthusiasm, Sect.
2,--_Shaftesbury_.
ANTHONY ASHLEY COOPER, first Earl of Shaftesbury, a distinguished
English statesman, was born in Wimborne, St. Giles, Dorsetshire, July
22, 1621, and died in Amsterdam, January 22, 1683. His notable work was:
"Characteristics of Men, Manners, Opinions, and Times," a collection of
his numerous writings.
Blithe wanderer of the wintry air,
Now here, now there, now everywhere,
Quickly drifting to and fro,
A cheerful life devoid of care,
A shadow on the snow.
"The English Sparrow,"--_George W. Bungay_.
GEORGE WASHINGTON BUNGAY, a noted journalist and poet, was born in
Walsingham, England, July 22, 1818, and died July 10, 1892. The best
known of his many poems are: "The Creed of the Bells," and "The English
Sparrow." He also wrote: "Abraham Lincoln Songster," "Pen Portraits of
Illustrious Abstainers," etc.
Resolve to be thyself; and know, that he
Who finds himself, loses his misery.
"Self Independence,"--_Coventry K. D. Patmore_.
COVENTRY KEASSEY DEIGHTON PATMORE, a celebrated English poet, was born
at Woodford in Essex, July 23, 1823, and died in 1896. He wrote: "The
Unknown Eros," "Amelia," "The Rod, the Root and the Flower," "The Angel
in the House," "Principle in Art, and Other Essays," etc.
Truth is liable to be left-handed in history.
--_Dumas_, (Père).
ALEXANDRE DUMAS, the Elder, an illustrious French dramatist and
romancist, was born at Villière Cotterets, Aisne, July 24, 1803 (?), and
died near Dieppe, December 5, 1870. A few of his great romances are:
"The Count of Monte Cristo," "The Three Musketeers," "Twenty Years
After," "The Knight of Maison-Rouge," "Viscount de Bragelonne," "Queen
Margot," etc., etc. Some of his historical romances are: "Joan of Arc,"
"Michelangelo and Raffaelle," "Louis XIV and His Age," etc. His most
famous plays were: "Henri III. and His Court," "Antony," "Charles VII
with His Grand Vassals," "Napoleon Bonaparte," "Mdlle. de Belle-Isle,"
"Marriage under Louis XV," "The Misses St. Cyr," etc. He also wrote
entertaining narratives of his travels in Italy, Switzerland, Germany,
Spain, North Africa, Syria, Egypt, etc.
Heaven is not reached at a single bound;
But we build the ladder by which we rise
From the lowly earth to the vaulted skies,
And we mount to its summit round by round.
"Gradatim,"--_-Josiah G. Holland_.
JOSIAH GILBERT HOLLAND, a famous American poet and novelist and editor,
was born at Belchertown, Mass., July 24, 1819, and died in New York,
October 12, 1881. Among his works are: "Letters to the Young," "Life of
Abraham Lincoln," "Plain Talks on Familiar Subjects," "Nicholas
Minturn," etc. Also poems under the titles: "Bitter Sweet," "Kathrina,"
"The Mistress of the Manse," "Garnered Sheaves," etc.
The energies of our system will decay; the glory of the sun will
be dimmed, and the earth, tideless and inert, will no longer
tolerate the race which has for a moment disturbed its solitude.
Man will go down into the pit and all his thoughts will perish.
"The Foundations of Belief,"--_Arthur James Balfour_.
RT. HON. ARTHUR JAMES BALFOUR, a distinguished English author and
statesman, was born July 25, 1848. He has written: "A Defence of
Philosophic Doubt," "The Foundations of Belief," "Essays and Addresses,"
"Economic Notes on Insular Free Trade," "Speeches" (1880-1905), on
"Fiscal Reform," "Criticism and Beauty," "Theism and Humanism," etc.
I remember, I remember
How my childhood fleeted by,--
The mirth of its December
And the warmth of its July.
"I remember, I remember,"--_Winthrop M. Praed_.
WINTHROP MACKWORTH PRAED, a celebrated English poet, was born in London,
July 26, 1802, and died in 1839. Among his best known pieces are: "The
Red Fisherman," "Private Theatricals," "Every-Day Characters," "School
and Schoolfellows," "A Letter of Advice," "Our Ball," "My Partner," "My
Little Cousins," etc.
The more things a man is ashamed of, the more respectable he is.
"Man and Superman,"--_George Bernard Shaw_.
GEORGE BERNARD SHAW, a famous British author and playwright, was born in
Dublin, July 26, 1856. He has written, "The Quintessence of Ibsenism,"
"The Sanity of Art," "The Perfect Wagnerite," "The Common Sense of
Municipal Training," "Socialism and Superior Brains," "Common Sense
about the War," etc. Also: "The Admirable Bashville," "Man and
Superman," "John Bull's Other Island," "How He Lied to Her Husband,"
"Major Barbara," "The Doctor's Dilemma," "Getting Married,"
"Misalliance," "Fanny's First Play," "Androcles and the Lion,"
"Pygmalion," "Overruled," "Great Catherine," "The Music-Cure,"
"O'Flaherty, V. C.," "An Unsocial Socialist," "The Devil's Disciple,"
"Cæsar and Cleopatra," "The Man of Destiny," "You Never Can Tell," "Back
to Methuselah" (cycle of plays), etc.
'Tis distance lends enchantment to the view,
And robes the mountain in its azure hue.
"Pleasures of Hope," Part I, Line 7,--_Thomas Campbell_.
THOMAS CAMPBELL, a Scottish poet, of great fame, was born at Glasgow,
July 27, 1777; and died at Boulogne, France June, 15, 1844. The best
known of his poems are: "Gertrude of Wyoming," "Pleasures of Hope,"
"Lochiel's Warning," "The Exile of Erin," "Battle of the Baltic," "Ye
Mariners of England," etc.
Memory is a paradise out of which fate cannot drive us.
--_Dumas, Fils_.
ALEXANDRE DUMAS, THE YOUNGER, the renowned French dramatist and
romancist, was born at Paris, July 27, 1824, and died November 28, 1895.
A few of his famous romances are: "A Woman's Romance," "Césarine,"
"Camille," etc. Also, "The Divorce Question," "The Clemenceau Case,"
"The Natural Son," "The Friend of Women," "Claude's Wife," "The
Danicheffs," "Joseph Balsamo," "Françillon," etc.
Of Courtesy it is much less
Than Courage of Heart or Holiness,
Yet in my Walks it seems to me
That the Grace of God is in Courtesy.
"Courtesy,"--_Hilaire Belloc_.
HILAIRE BELLOC, a celebrated English author, was born July 27, 1870.
Among his works are: "Verses and Sonnets," "Paris," "Robespierre," "Path
to Rome," "Hills and the Sea," "Marie Antoinette," "The Green
Overcoat," "The Mercy of Allah," "General Sketch of the European War,
1st Phase," "The Last Days of the French Monarchy."
Beautiful Faith, surrendering to Time.
"Marpessa," L. 62,--_Stephen Phillips_.
STEPHEN PHILLIPS, a noted English author and poet, was born near the
City of Oxford, July 28, 1868, and died December 9, 1915. Among his
poetical pieces are: "The Woman with the Dead Soul," "Marpessa," "The
Wife," "After Rain," "Thoughts at Sunrise," "Thoughts at Noon." The
first volume of his "Poems" appeared in 1897, and "New Poems" in 1907.
"It is a great blessing," says Pascal, "to be born a man of
quality, since it brings one man as far forward at eighteen or
twenty as another man would be at fifty, which is a clear gain of
thirty years." These thirty years are commonly wanting to the
ambitious characters of democracies. The principle of equality,
which allows every man to arrive at everything, prevents all men
from rapid advancement.
--_Alexis de Tocqueville_.
ALEXIS DE TOCQUEVILLE, a distinguished French publicist and writer, was
born at Vermeuil (Seine-et-Oise), July 29, 1805, and died at Cannes,
April 16, 1859. His writings include: "The Old Régime and the
Revolution," "Democracy in America," and "Works," 9 vols., which
appeared in 1860-65.
She was good as she was fair,
None--none on earth above her!
As pure in thought as angels are:
To know her was to love her.
"Jacqueline," Stanza 1,--_Samuel Rogers_.
SAMUEL ROGERS, a famous English poet, was born at Newington Green,
London, July 30, 1763, and died in London, December 18, 1855. He wrote
"The Voyage of Columbus," "Italy," "Human Life," "Pleasures of Memory,"
and "Jacqueline."
He was utterly incapable of anything like baseness. No man could
be more jealous of his honour; no man had a greater pride in being
largely and loftily a man.
"Life of Robert Burns,"--_John Stuart Blackie_.
JOHN STUART BLACKIE, a notable Scottish author was born in Glasgow, July
31, 1809, and died in Edinburgh, March 2, 1895. His works include
translations from the Greek and German; moral and religious and other
philosophy; also, "Lays of the Highlands and Islands," "Language and
Literature of the Scottish Highlands," "Wisdom of Goethe," "Life of
Burns," "Essays on Subjects of Moral and Social Interest,"
"Self-Culture," etc.