John Greenleaf Whittier: A sketch of his life, with selected poems

John Greenleaf Whittier: A sketch of his life, with selected poems

The occasion for this little volume is the celebration of the centenary of Whittiers birth. The sketch of his life aims to present the chief formative influences which affected his career and determined the character of his poetry. The poems have been chosen with the intention of illustrating, first, the circumstances of Whittiers boyhood and the themes to which his poetic imagination naturally turned, then the political and social struggle which engrossed so many of his years, and finally that mood of devout resting and waiting in which his long life closed. The frontispiece portrait of Whittier is from a miniature by Porter, painted about 1838. The portrait which faces page 36 is from an ambrotype taken about 1857. Both the miniature and ambrotype are in the possession of Samuel T. Pickard, Amesbury, Mass. The loneliness of the homestead in which Whittier was born, on December 17, 1807, has been described by the poet himself and emphasized by his biographers. It is a solitary spot, even to-day. The farmhouse, built by the poets great-great-grandfather in 1688, has been preserved by the affectionate solicitude of the Whittier Homestead Association. After the ravages of fire and of time it has been scrupulously restored. The old-fashioned garden, the lawn sloping to the brook, the very stepping-stones, the beehives, the bridle-post, the worn door-stone, the barn across the road, even the surrounding woods of pine and oak, are all, as nearly as may be, precisely what they were a hundred years ago. The shadow of Jobs Hill still darkens the pleasant little stream and the narrow meadows of the homestead. In the dusk of August evenings the deer come out to feed among the alders. The neighborhood remains sparsely settled. No 4other house is within sight or hearing. Even in summer the rural quiet is scarcely broken, and the winter landscape makes an almost sombre impression of physical seclusion. ......Buy Now (To Read More)

Product details

Ebook Number: 67202
Author: Perry, Bliss
Release Date: Jan 19, 2022
Format: eBook
Language: English
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin and company
Publication Date: 1907
Publisher Country: United States

Contributors

Contributor (Author): Whittier, John Greenleaf, 1807-1892