. A century of American literature and the lives and portraits of our favorite authors . He broods on his folded feet, unstirred, Or, rising half in his rounded takes the time to smooth his breast;Then drops again, with filmed sleeps as the last vibration dies. Sweet bird ! I would that I could be A hermit in the crowd like thee! With wings to fly to wood and glen, Thy lot, like mine, is cast with men; And daily, with unwilling feet, I tread, like thee, the crowded street; But, unlike me, when day is oer, Tbou canst dismiss tbe world, and soar; Or, at a half-felt wish for rest
. A century of American literature and the lives and portraits of our favorite authors . He broods on his folded feet, unstirred, Or, rising half in his rounded takes the time to smooth his breast;Then drops again, with filmed sleeps as the last vibration dies. Sweet bird ! I would that I could be A hermit in the crowd like thee! With wings to fly to wood and glen, Thy lot, like mine, is cast with men; And daily, with unwilling feet, I tread, like thee, the crowded street; But, unlike me, when day is oer, Tbou canst dismiss tbe world, and soar; Or, at a half-felt wish for rest. Canst smooth the feathers on thy breast, And drop, forgetful, t(j thy nest. I would that in such wings of gold, I could my weary heart up-fold ; I would I could look down unmoved, (Unloving as I am unloved,) And while the world throngs on beneath. Smooth down my cares, and calmly breathe j And never sad with others sadness. And never glad with others gladness. Listen, unstirred, to knell or chime, And, lapped in quiet, bide my time. ■i^^^m^^.^^M^^*^^.^*^^ RICHARD HENRY POET AND JOURNALIST. [TH no commanding antecedents to support liim, Richard Henry Stod-dard has, step by step, fought his way to a position which is aUkecreditable to his indomitable energy and his genius. Stoddard wasborn July 2,1825, at Hingham, Mass. His father was a sea-captain,who, while the poet was yet in his early youth, sailed for of his vessel never came back,—this was in 1835. Themother removed, the same year, with her son to New York, where he attendedthe public schools of the city. Necessity compelled the widow, as soon as his agepermitted, to jjut young Stoddard to work, and he was placed in an iron foundiy tolearn this trade. Here he worked for some years, says one of his biographers,*dreaming in the intervals of his toil, and even then moulding his thoughts into thesymmetry of verse while he moulded the moulten metal into shapes of grace. Atthe same time he pursued
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectamerica, bookyear1901
