The Life of Abraham Lincoln, from His Birth to His Inauguration as PresidentLamon, Ward Hill
History
The Life of Abraham Lincoln, from His Birth to His Inauguration as President
Lamon, Ward Hill
Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865
In 1826 Abe's sister Nancy (or Sarah) was married to Aaron Grigsby; and
the festivities of the occasion were made memorable by a song entitled,
"Adam and Eve's Wedding Song," which many believed Abe had himself
composed. The conceits embodied in the doggerel were old before Abe was
born; but there is some intrinsic as well as extraneous evidence to
show that the doggerel itself was his. It was sung by the whole Lincoln
family, before Nancy's marriage and since, but by nobody else in the
neighborhood.
ADAM AND EVE'S WEDDING SONG.
When Adam was created, he dwelt in Eden's shade,
As Moses has recorded, and soon an Eve was made.
Ten thousand times ten thousand
Of creatures swarmed around
Before a bride was formed,
And yet no mate was found.
The Lord then was not willing
The man should be alone,
But caused a sleep upon him,
And took from him a bone,
And closed the flesh in that place of;
And then he took the same,
And of it made a woman,
And brought her to the man.
Then Adam he rejoiced
To see his loving bride,
A part of his own body,
The product of his side.
This woman was not taken
From Adam's feet, we see;
So he must not abuse her,
The meaning seems to be.
This woman was not taken
From Adam's head, we know;
To show she must not rule him,
'Tis evidently so.
This woman she was taken
From under Adam's arm;
So she must be protected
From injuries and harm.
"It was considered at that time," says Mr. Richardson, "that Abe was the
best penman in the neighborhood. One day, while he was on a visit at
my mother's, I asked him to write some copies for me. He very willingly
consented. He wrote several of them, but one of them I have never
forgotten, although a boy at the time. It was this:--
'Good boys who to their books apply
Will all be great men by and by.'"
Here are two original lines from Abe's own copy-book, probably the first
he ever had, and which must not be confounded with the famous scrap-book
in which his step-mother, lost in admiration of its contents, declares
he "entered all things:"--
"Abraham Lincoln, his hand and pen:
He will be good, but God knows when."
Again,--
"Abraham Lincoln is my name,
And with my pen I write the same:
I will be a good boy, but God knows when."
The same book contains the following, written at a later day, and with
nothing to indicate that any part of it was borrowed:--
"Time! what an empty vapor'tis!
And days how swift they are!
Swift as an Indian arrow,
Fly on like a shooting-star.
The present moment just is here,
Then slides away in haste,
That we can never say they're ours,
But only say they are past."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account