The Works of John Greenleaf Whittier, Volume VI. (Of VII): Old Portraits and Modern Sketches, Plus Personal Sketches and Tributes and Historical PapersWhittier, John Greenleaf
History
The Works of John Greenleaf Whittier, Volume VI. (Of VII): Old Portraits and Modern Sketches, Plus Personal Sketches and Tributes and Historical Papers
Whittier, John Greenleaf
Biography; History
He sleeps in the Concord burial-ground, under the shadow of oaks; the
very spot he would have chosen, for he looked upon trees with something
akin to human affection. "They are," he said, "the beautiful handiwork
and architecture of God, on which the eye never tires. Every one is
a feather in the earth's cap, a plume in her bonnet, a tress on her
forehead,--a comfort, a refreshing, and an ornament to her." Spring has
hung over him her buds, and opened beside him her violets. Summer has
laid her green oaken garland on his grave, and now the frost-blooms of
autumn drop upon it. Shall man cast a nettle on that mound? He loved
humanity,--shall it be less kind to him than Nature? Shall the bigotry
of sect, and creed, and profession, drive its condemnatory stake into his
grave? God forbid. The doubts which he sometimes unguardedly expressed
had relation, we are constrained to believe, to the glosses of
commentators and creed-makers and the inconsistency of professors, rather
than to those facts and precepts of Christianity to which he gave the
constant assent of his practice. He sought not his own. His heart
yearned with pity and brotherly affection for all the poor and suffering
in the universe. Of him, the angel of Leigh Hunt's beautiful allegory
might have written, in the golden book of remembrance, as he did of the
good Abou Ben Adhem, "He loved his fellow-men."
ROBERT DINSMORE.
The great charm of Scottish poetry consists in its simplicity, and
genuine, unaffected sympathy with the common joys and sorrows of daily
life. It is a home-taught, household melody. It calls to mind the
pastoral bleat on the hillsides, the kirkbells of a summer Sabbath, the
song of the lark in the sunrise, the cry of the quail in the corn-land,
the low of cattle, and the blithe carol of milkmaids "when the kye come
hame" at gloaming. Meetings at fair and market, blushing betrothments,
merry weddings, the joy of young maternity, the lights and shades of
domestic life, its bereavements and partings, its chances and changes,
its holy death-beds, and funerals solemnly beautiful in quiet kirkyards,
--these furnish the hints of the immortal melodies of Burns, the sweet
ballads of the Ettrick Shepherd and Allan Cunningham, and the rustic
drama of Ramsay. It is the poetry of home, of nature, and the
affections.
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