What is the greatest bliss
That the tongue o' man can name?
'Tis to woo a bonnie lassie
When the kye comes hame!
"When the Kye Comes Hame," st. 2,--_James Hogg_.
JAMES HOGG, a famous Scotch pastoral poet, was born in Ettrick, December
1, 1770, and died at Eltrive Lake, November 21, 1835. He wrote: "Poems
and Songs," "The Mountain Bard," "Scottish Pastorals," and "The Queen's
Wake," his most famous work.
In the soul of Keats, if ever in a human soul at all, there was a
portion of the real poetic essence--the real faculty divine....
His most obvious characteristic, I repeat, is the universality of
his sensuousness. And this it is, added to his exquisite mastery
in language and verse, that makes it such a luxury to read him.
"Wordsworth, Shelley and Keats,"--_David Masson_.
DAVID MASSON, a noted Scottish author, was born at Aberdeen, December 2,
1822, and died in 1907. He wrote: "The Life of Milton in connection with
the History of His Time," "Essays, Biographical and Critical," "British
Novelists," "Recent British Philosophy," "Carlyle Personally and His
Writings," "Edinburgh Sketches and Memories," etc.
Strange to the world he wore a bashful look,
The fields his study, nature was his book.
"The Farmer's Boy: Spring," L. 31,--_Bloomfield_.
ROBERT BLOOMFIELD, a celebrated English poet, was born at Honington,
December 3, 1766, and died in Shefford, in 1823. Among his poetical
pieces are: "The Milk Maid," "The Sailor's Return," and his most famous
poetical work, "The Farmer's Boy."
In books lies the soul of the whole Past Time; the articulate audible
voice of the Past, when the body and material substance of it has
altogether vanished like a dream.
"Heroes and Hero-Worship: The Hero as a Man of Letters,"--_Thomas
Carlyle_.
THOMAS CARLYLE, a Scotch biographer, historian, and miscellaneous writer
of great fame, was born at Ecclefechan, December 4, 1795, and died in
London, February 4, 1881. Among his celebrated works may be mentioned:
"Life of Schiller," "Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship," a translation;
"The French Revolution," "Life and Letters of Oliver Cromwell," "German
Romance," "Heroes, Hero-Worship, and the Heroic in History," "Chartism,"
"Past and Present," "Life of Sterling," "Friedrich II," "Latter-Day
Pamphlets," "Inaugural Address at Edinburgh," etc.
Give me the lowest place: or if for me
That lowest place too high, make one more low
Where I may sit and see
My God, and love Thee so.
"The Lowest Place,"--_Christina G. Rossetti_.
CHRISTINA GEORGINA ROSSETTI, a renowned English poetess, was born in
London, December 5, 1830, and died December 29, 1894. Among her works
are: "The Prince's Progress," "Sing-Song: A Nursery Rhyme Book," "Seek
and Find," "Speaking Likenesses," "A Pageant, and Other Poems," "Letter
and Spirit," "Annus Domini: A Prayer for Each Day in the Year,"
"Verses," and her most celebrated work, "Goblin Market."
Right as a trivet.
"The Ingoldsby Legends, Auto-da-fe,"--_R. H. Barham_.
RICHARD HARRIS BARHAM, a famous English poet, was born in Canterbury,
December 6, 1788, and died in London, June 17, 1845. Under the nom de
plume of "Thomas Ingoldsby," he wrote the celebrated "Ingoldsby
Legends." He also wrote: "Life of Theodore Hook," "My Cousin Nicholas,"
etc.
What is worth doing is worth doing well; and with a little more
trouble at first, much trouble afterwards may be avoided.
Max Müller, "Letter to John Bellows," July 18, 1866, from
"Life" (by His Wife) I. XV,--_Max Müller_.
FRIEDRICH MAX MÜLLER, an eminent German-English Sanskrit scholar and
comparative philologist, was born at Dessau, December 6, 1823, and died
in 1900. He has written: "History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature,"
"Science of Language," "Chips from a German Workshop," "Science of
Religion," "Essays on Language, Mythology, and Religion," "Science of
Thought," "My Autobiography," "Last Essays," appeared after his death,
also, "Life and Letters of the Right Honorable Friedrich Max Müller," by
his wife.
Liberty of the imagination is the most precious possession of the
novelist.
--_Joseph Conrad_.
JOSEPH CONRAD, a renowned English author, of Polish parentage, was born
December 6, 1857. Among his works are: "An Outcast of the Islands," "The
Nigger of the Narcissus," "Typhoon," "The Mirror of the Sea," "The
Secret Agent," "Under Western Eyes," "Some Reminiscenses," "Chance,"
"Within the Tides," "Victory," "The Shadow Line," "The Arrow of Gold,"
"Rescue," "Notes on Life and Letters."
A wet sheet and a flowing sea,
A wind that follows fast,
And fills the white and rustling sail,
And bends the gallant mast.
And bends the gallant mast, my boys,
While like the eagle free
Away the good ship flies, and leaves
Old England on the lee.
"A Wet Sheet and a Flowing Sea,"--_Allan Cunningham_.
ALLAN CUNNINGHAM, a noted Scotch poet and miscellaneous writer, was born
in Keir, Dumfriesshire, December 7, 1784, and died in London, October
30, 1842. His best known works are: "Lord Roldan," "Paul Jones," "Sir
Marmaduke Maxwell," and his most famous work, "Critical History of the
Literature of the Last Fifty Years."
Out in the lonely woods the jasmine burns
Its fragrant lamps, and turns
Into a royal court with green festoons
The banks of dark lagoons.
"Spring,"--_Henry Timrod_.
HENRY TIMROD, a famous American Southern poet and author, was born at
Charleston, S. C., December 8, 1829, and died at Columbia, S. C.,
October 6, 1867. His "Poems" appeared in 1860.
You k'n hide de fier, but w'at you gwine do wid de smoke?
"Plantation Proverbs,"--_Joel Chandler Harris_.
JOEL CHANDLER HARRIS, a noted American journalist and story writer, was
born at Eatonton, Georgia, December 8, 1848, and died July 3, 1908. He
has written: "Daddy Jake, the Runaway," "The Folk-Lore of the Old
Plantation," etc. He is best known, however, by his famous "Uncle Remus"
sketches.
Now came still evening on, and twilight gray
Had in her sober livery all things clad;
Silence accompany'd; for beast and bird,
They to their grassy couch, these to their nests,
Were slunk, all but the wakeful nightingale;
She all night long her amorous descant sung;
Silence was pleas'd. Now glow'd the firmament
With living sapphires; Hesperus, that led
The starry host, rode brightest, till the moon,
Rising in clouded majesty, at length
Apparent queen unveil'd her peerless light,
And o'er the dark her silver mantle threw.
"Paradise Lost," Book IV, Line 598,--_John Milton_.
JOHN MILTON, one of the greatest of English poets, was born in London,
December 9, 1608, and died there November 8, 1674. His most famous works
were: "Paradise Lost," "Paradise Regained," "Comus," "Lycidas,"
"L'Allegro," "Il Penseroso," "Samson Agonistes," "Areopagitica," "The
Tenure of Kings and Magistrates," and the "Defence of the English
People."
And ne'er shall the sons of Columbia be slaves,
While the earth bears a plant or the sea rolls its waves.
"Adams and Liberty,"--_Robert Treat Paine, Jr._
ROBERT TREAT PAINE, JR., a celebrated American poet, was born in
Taunton, Mass., December 9, 1773, and died in Boston, November 13, 1811.
He is best known as the author of two songs, "Rise, Columbia," and
"Adams and Liberty." Among his poems are: "The Invention of Letters,"
and "The Ruling Passion."
Virtue often trips and falls on the sharp-edged rock of poverty.
--_Eugene Sue_.
EUGENE SUE, a famous French romancer, was born in Paris, December 10,
1804, and died at Annecy, July 3, 1857. He wrote: "Kernock the Pirate,"
"History of the French Navy," "History of the War Navies of All
Nations," "The Seven Deadly Sins," "Martin the Foundling," "The
Mysteries of the People," "The Jouffroy Family," "The Secrets of the
Confessional," "The Mysteries of Paris," and "The Wandering Jew."
Jesus was the first great teacher of men who showed a genuine
sympathy for childhood. When He said, "Of such is the kingdom of
heaven," it was a revelation.
--_Eggleston_.
EDWARD EGGLESTON, a distinguished American historian and novelist, was
born in Vevay, Ind., December 10, 1837, and died in 1902. Among his
noted works are: "The Circuit Rider," "The End of the World," "Roxy,"
"The Hoosier Schoolmaster," "The Graysons," "The Faith Doctor," "Queer
Stories for Boys and Girls," "The Hoosier Schoolboy," "Schoolmasters'
Stories," "Mr. Blake's Walking-Stick," "School History of the United
States," "Household History of the United States," "First Book in
American History," "The Beginners of a Nation," "The Transit of
Civilization," etc.
Oh the heart is a free and fetterless thing,--
A wave of the ocean, a bird on the wing!
"The Captive Greek Girl,"--_Julia Pardoe_.
JULIA PARDOE, a noted English historical and miscellaneous writer, was
born at Beverly, Yorkshire, December 11 (?), 1806, and died in London,
November 26, 1862. Among her many works are: "Traditions of Portugal,"
"City of the Sultan," "Louis XIV and the Court of France," "The Jealous
Wife," "The Court and Reign of Francis I," "Marie de' Medici," "Episodes
of French History During the Consulate," "A Life Struggle," and numerous
lyrics.
A place in thy memory, dearest,
Is all that I claim;
To pause and look back when thou hearest
The sound of my name.
"A Place in Thy Memory,"--_Gerald Griffin_.
GERALD GRIFFIN, a famous Irish novelist, poet and dramatist, was born at
Limerick, December 12, 1803, and died at Cork, June 12, 1840. He wrote:
"Tales of the Munster Festivals," "The Collegians," "Holland Tide: or
Munster Popular Tales," "The Invasion," "Gisippus, or the Forgotten
Friend," "Tales of My Neighborhood," etc.
"That Flaubert was one of the greatest writers who ever lived in
France is now commonly admitted, and his greatness principally
depends upon the extraordinary vigour and exactitude of his
style."
GUSTAVE FLAUBERT, a renowned French novelist, was born at Rouen,
December 12, 1821, and died there, May 8, 1880. Among his writings are:
"Salammbô," "The History of a Young Man," "The Temptation of St.
Anthony," "Three Stories," and "Madame Bovary," his greatest novel.
The nightingale appear'd the first
And as her melody she sang,
The apple into blossom burst,
To life the grass and violets sprang.
"New Spring," No. 31 ("Book of Songs"),--_Heine_.
HEINRICH HEINE, an eminent German poet, was born at Düsseldorf, December
13, 1799, and died at Paris, February 17, 1856. Among his works are:
"Pictures of Travel," "Almansor," "Radcliff," "Poems," "Book of Songs,"
"New Poems," "History of Recent Polite Literature in Germany," "The
Salon," "Doctor Faust," "The Romantic School," "Shakespeare's Maids and
Matrons," "The Romancers," "Miscellaneous Writings," etc.
Life comes before literature, as the material always comes before
the work. The hills are full of marble before the world blooms
with statues.
"Literature and Life,"--_Phillips Brooks_.
PHILLIPS BROOKS, a famous American clergyman of the Episcopal Church,
was born in Boston, December 13, 1835, and died there, January 23, 1893.
He published many volumes of sermons and lectures, including: "Letters
of Travel," "Lectures on Preaching," and "Essays and Addresses."
The germs of all truth lie in the soul, and when the ripe moment
comes, the truth within answers to the fact without as the flower
responds to the sun, giving it form for heat and color for light.
--_Hamilton W. Mabie_.
HAMILTON WRIGHT MABIE, a celebrated American essayist, critic, and
editor, was born in Cold Spring, N. Y., December 13, 1846, and died in
1916. His works include: "Norse Stories Retold from the Eddas," "My
Study Fire," "Short Studies in Literature," "Nature and Culture," "Books
and Culture," "Work and Culture," "Works and Days," "Backgrounds of
Literature," "The Great Word," "What and How to Read," "Writers of
Knickerbocker," "American Ideals, Character and Life," "Japan To-day and
To-morrow," etc., etc.
Go, forget me! why should sorrow
O'er that brow a shadow fling?
Go, forget me, and to-morrow
Brightly smile and sweetly sing!
Smile,--though I shall not be near thee;
Sing,--though I shall never hear thee!
"Go, forget me!"--_Charles Wolfe_.
CHARLES WOLFE, a distinguished Irish clergyman and poet, was born at
Dublin, December 14, 1791, and died at Cove of Cork (now Queenstown),
February 21, 1823. His literary fame rests wholly upon his "Burial of
Sir John Moore."
Just to let thy Father do
What He will;
Just to know that He is true,
And be still.
Just to follow hour by hour
As He leadeth;
Just to draw the moment's power
As it needeth.
Just to trust Him, that is all!
Then the day will surely be
Peaceful, whatsoe'er befall,
Bright and blessed, calm and free.
"The Secret of a Happy Day," St. I,--_Frances Ridley Havergal_.
FRANCES RIDLEY HAVERGAL, a noted English poet and religious writer, was
born at Astley, Worcestershire, December 14, 1836, and died at Swansea,
Wales, June 3, 1879. She wrote: "The Four Happy Days," "Under the
Surface" poems; "Royal Graces and Loyal Gifts" (6 vols., 1879), "Under
His Shadow," etc.
Then here's to the oak, the brave old oak,
Who stands in his pride alone!
And still flourish he, a hale green tree,
When a hundred years are gone!
"The Brave Old Oak,"--_H. F. Chorley_.
HENRY FOTHERGILL CHORLEY, a famous English critic and miscellaneous
writer, was born in Blackley Hurst, Lancashire, December 15, 1808, and
died in London, February 15, 1872. He wrote a famous play, "Old Love and
New Fortune," and several novels, among them: "Conti," "The Prodigy,"
and "The Lion."
Where an opinion is general, it is usually correct.
"Mansfield Park," Chap. II,--_Jane Austen_.
JANE AUSTEN, a renowned English novelist, was born in Steventon,
Hampshire, December 16, 1775, and died in Winchester, July 18, 1817. Her
most famous works are: "Mansfield Park," "Sense and Sensibility," and
"Pride and Prejudice."
A sacred spark created by his breath,
The immortal mind of man his image bears;
A spirit living 'midst the forms of death,
Oppressed, but not subdued by mortal cares.
"Written After Recovery from a Dangerous Illness,"--_Sir H.
Davy_.
SIR HUMPHRY DAVY, an eminent English chemist, philosopher and man of
letters, was born at Penzance, Cornwall, December 17, 1778, and died at
Geneva, Switzerland, May 29, 1829. He wrote: "Consolations in Travel, or
the Last Days of a Philosopher," "Chemical and Philosophical
Researches," "On the Safety Lamp and on Flame," etc.
For of all sad words of tongue or pen,
The saddest are these: "It might have been!"
"Maud Muller,"--_John Greenleaf Whittier_.
JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER, a renowned American poet, was born at
Haverhill, Massachusetts, December 17, 1807, and died at Hampton Falls,
New Hampshire, September 1892. Among his noted poems are: "Barbara
Frietchie," "Skipper Ireson's Ride," "Snow-Bound," "Maud Muller," "My
Playmate," "Laus Deo," "My Birthday," and "The Tent on the Beach."
A charge to keep I have,
A God to glorify;
A never dying soul to save,
And fit it for the sky.
"Christian Fidelity,"--_Charles Wesley_.
CHARLES WESLEY, a famous English clergyman and poet, was born at
Epworth, Lincolnshire, December 18, 1708, and died in London, March 29,
1788. He was called "the poet of Methodism," but many of his beautiful
hymns are used in all denominations of the Protestant church.
'Tis noon;--a calm unbroken sleep
Is on the blue waves of the deep;
A soft haze like a fairy dream,
Is floating over wood and stream;
And many a broad magnolia flower,
Within its shadowy woodland bower,
Is gleaming like a lovely star.
"To An Absent Wife," St. 2,--_George D. Prentice_.
GEORGE DENISON PRENTICE, a distinguished American journalist, poet, and
author, was born at Preston, Conn., December 18, 1802, and died January
22, 1870. He published in 1860, "Prenticeana" a collection of pointed
paragraphs. His other works are: "Life of Henry Clay," and "Poems."
There is no to-morrow; though before our face the shadow named so
stretches, we always fail to o'ertake it, hasten as we may.
--_Margaret J. Preston_.
MARGARET JUNKIN PRESTON, a celebrated American author, was born in
Philadelphia, Pa., December 19 (?), 1825, and died in 1897. She has
written: "Silverwood" (a novel), "Old Songs and New," "Cartoons,"
"Beechen-brook," "Colonial Ballads," "For Love's Sake," "Aunt Dorothy,"
etc.
Man is his own star; and that soul that can
Be honest is the only perfect man.
Upon an "Honest Man's Fortune,"--_John Fletcher_.
JOHN FLETCHER, the renowned English dramatist, was born in Rye, Sussex,
December 20 (?), 1579 and died in London, August, 1625. A few of his
famous plays are: "The Wild Goose Chase," "The Loyal Subject," "Monsieur
Thomas," "The Faithful Shepherdess," "A Wife for a Month," "Wit Without
Money," "The Chances," "Bonduca," "The Mad Lover," and "Rule a Wife and
Have a Wife." His name has always been associated with that of Francis
Beaumont, and together they wrote many plays; but the beforementioned
works were written by Fletcher alone.
Whenever a snowflake leaves the sky,
It turns and turns to say "Good-by!
Good-by, dear clouds, so cool and gray!"
Then lightly travels on its way.
"Snowflakes,"--_Mary Mapes Dodge_.
MARY ELIZABETH MAPES DODGE, a noted American editor, poet and author,
was born in New York City, December 20 (?),1838, and died in 1905. She
has written: "Irvington Stories," "Along the Way" (poems), "Theophilus
and Others," "The Land of Pluck," "Donald and Dorothy," "The Golden
Gate," "Poems and Verses," and "Hans Brinker, or the Silver Skates," her
most famous work.