Elson Grammar School Reader by William Harris Elson Christine M. Keck

Author:William Harris Elson , Christine M. Keck
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Scott, Foresman
Published: 1910-03-25T05:00:00+00:00

Lowell was considered one of the greatest scholars in America in his time. He was of a happier disposition than Bryant, and has been called the Poet of June, as Bryant has been called the Poet of Autumn.

Near the town of Haverhill, Massachusetts, not far from

Hawthorne^s birthplace, is the old homestead where Whittier

was born. He had very little opportunity for education beyond

JOHN QREENLEAF ^^^^ the district school afforded, except

WHITTIER what he was able to give himself. In

contrast with Lowell's splendid li-brary, that of Whittier's father contained, as he says, "not a dozen books.^' His two years' attendance at Haverhill Academy

was paid for by his own work at making ladies' slippers at twenty-five cents a pair. He began writing verses almost as soon as he learned to write at aM, but his father discouraged this as frivolous, saj^ing it would "never give him bread." He wrote many idylls of domestic life, such as "Snow-Bound/' and poems of farm life, of which the "Barefoot Boy'' is a good example. Whittier's ruling traits of character are patriotism, love of freedom, and piety. He was fond of his friends, of children, of animals, of quiet and peace, and of nature. He is called the Quaker Poet.

We now come to the merriest, most jovial of the group represented in our selections, the witty professor of anatomy in Harvard College. He, also, comes of old Puritan stock. His

OLIVER WENDELL grandfather was a surgeon in the War HOLMES of the Eevolution. His father was a

Baptist minister for over forty years in Boston. His mother was descended from the Dutch settlers of New York. Doctor Holmes, after studying some years abroad, practiced medicine for a time; then for the remainder of his long, busy life occupied the chair (the "settee," as he humorously called it) of anatomy, first at Dartmouth, then at Harvard. While his work as an author would have been enough to keep an ordinary man busy, it was rather a diversion for our energetic Doctor. He was one of the founders of the Atlaaitic Monthly and one of the most frequent contributors to it.

In appearance. Doctor Holmes was of small body, fastidious in dress, "quick and nervous in his movements," with a "winning expression" of countenance. There was always a smile on his face and a twinkle in his eye. He was the humorist among American poets and is called the Poet of Mirlh.

GBEAT AMERICAN AUTHORS

MY AEEIVAL IK PHILADELPHIA*

Benjamix Franklin

I was in my working dress, my best clothes being to come round by sea. I was dirty from my journey; my pockets were stuflfed out with shirts and stockings, and I knew no soul nor where to look for lodging. I was fatigued with traveling, row-

5 ing, and want of rest, I was very hungry; and my whole stock of cash consisted of a Dutch dollar, and about a shilling in copper. The latter I gave the people of the boat for my passage, who at first refused it, on account of my rowing; but I insisted on their taking it.

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