Through the Year With Famous Authors Part 50

Every age has its pleasures, its style of wit, and its own ways.

"The Art of Poetry," Canto iii, Line 374,--_Boileau_.

NICOLAS BOILEAU-DESPReAUX, an eminent French critic and poet, was born in Paris, November 1, 1636, and died March 13, 1711. A few of his noted works are: "The Art of Poetry," "The Farewell of a Poet to the City of Paris," and his masterpiece, "The Reading Desk."

I am dying, Egypt, dying;-- Ebbs the crimson life-tide fast; And the dark Plutonian shadows Gather on the evening blast.

Let thine arms, O Queen, enfold me; Hush thy sobs and bow thine ear; Listen to the great heart-secrets Thou, and thou alone, must hear.

"Antony to Cleopatra," St. I,--_William Haines Lytle_.

William Haines Lytle, a distinguished American general and poet, was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, November 2, 1826, and was killed at the Battle of Chickamauga, Tenn., September 20, 1863. His best-known poems are "Antony to Cleopatra," and "Jacqueline."

All men of whatever quality they be, who have done anything of excellence, or which may properly resemble excellence, ought, if they are persons of truth and honesty, to describe their life with their own hand; but they ought not to attempt so fine an enterprise till they have pa.s.sed the age of forty.

--_Benvenuto Cellini_.

BENVENUTO CELLINI, a famous Italian sculptor, metal-worker, and writer of memoirs, was born in Florence, November 3, 1500, and died there, February 13, 1571. His "Autobiography" won for him an important place in letters.

So live, that when thy summons comes to join The innumerable caravan which moves To that mysterious realm where each shall take His chamber in the silent halls of death, Thou go not, like the quarry-slave at night, Scourged to his dungeon, but sustained and soothed By an unfaltering trust, approach thy grave Like one that wraps the drapery of his couch About him, and lies down to pleasant dreams.

"Thanatopsis,"--_William Cullen Bryant_.

WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT, the celebrated American poet, was born in c.u.mmington, Ma.s.s., November 3, 1794, and died in New York, June 12, 1878. His poetical works include: "The Yellow Violet," "Poems," "To a Water-fowl," "The Ages," "The West Wind," "June," "The Fountain and Other Poems," "Death of the Flowers," "The White-Footed Deer and Other Poems," "The Flood of Years," and his famous "Thanatopsis." He also wrote: "Letters of a Traveler," "Letters from the East," "Letters from Spain," etc.

Rock of Ages, cleft for me, Let me hide myself in thee.

"Salvation through Christ,"--_A. M. Toplady_.

AUGUSTUS MONTAGUE TOPLADY, a distinguished Anglican divine, was born November 4, 1740, and died August 11, 1778. He is chiefly known as a writer of hymns and poems including: "Rock of Ages," and the collections ent.i.tled, "Poems on Sacred Subjects."

Beyond this vale of tears There is a life above, Unmeasured by the flight of years; And all that life is love.

"The Issues of Life and Death,"--_James Montgomery_.

JAMES MONTGOMERY, a noted English poet and hymn-writer, was born at Irvine, Ayrshire, Scotland, November 4, 1771, and died at Sheffield, England, April 30, 1854. He wrote: "The World Before the Flood," "The West Indies," "Greenland," "Original Hymns," "Prose by a Poet," etc.

Mensch, was du thust, bedenk das End, Das wird die hochst Weisheit genennt.[1]

--_Hans Sachs_.

HANS SACHS, the famous German meistersinger, was born at Nuremberg, November 5, 1494, and died January 19 or 20, 1576. A complete collection of his works has never been published.

Make no man your idol; for the best man must have faults, and his faults will usually become yours in addition to your own. This is as true in art as in morals.

"Lectures on Art and Poems,"--_Washington Allston_.

WASHINGTON ALLSTON, a renowned American painter, poet, and romancer, was born at Waccamaw, S. C., November 5, 1779, and died at Cambridge, Ma.s.s., July 9, 1843. He wrote: "The Sylph of the Seasons and Other Poems,"

"Monaldi," "Lectures on Art and Poems," etc.

Laugh and the world laughs with you, Weep, and you weep alone; For this brave old earth must borrow its mirth But has trouble enough of its own.

"The Way of the World,"--_Ella Wheeler Wilc.o.x_.

ELLA WHEELER WILc.o.x, a popular American poet, was born at Johnstown Centre, Wis., November 5, 1845, and died October 31, 1919. Among her volumes are: "Maurine," "Poems of Pa.s.sion," "Poems of Pleasure," etc.

She is best known for her poem, "The Way of the World."

As good be out of the world as out of the fashion.

"Love's Last Shift," Act ii.--_Colley Cibber_.

COLLEY CIBBER, a noted English dramatist, was born in London, November 6, 1671, and died there, December 12, 1757. Among his dramatic works are: "Love's Last Shift," "She Would and She Would Not," "The Careless Husband," and "Love Makes a Man."

"Innocently to amuse the imagination in this dream of life is wisdom." So wrote Oliver Goldsmith; and surely among those who have earned the world's grat.i.tude by this ministration he must be accorded a conspicuous place.

"Life of Goldsmith,"--_William Black_.

WILLIAM BLACK, a celebrated Scottish novelist, was born November 6, 1841, and died in 1898. Among his popular novels are: "Love or Marriage," "In Silk Attire," "A Daughter of Heth," "Madcap Violet,"

"Three Feathers," "Yolande," "The Strange Adventures of a Phaeton,"

"Macleod of Dare," "White Heather," "Donald Ross of Heimra," "Highland Cousins," "Wild Eelin," and his most famous work, "A Princess of Thule."

He also wrote a "Life of Goldsmith."

The great deep ground out of which large historical studies may grow is the ethical ground,--the simple ethical necessity for the perfecting, first, of man as man, and secondly, of man as a member of society; or in other words, the necessity for the development of humanity on one hand and society on the other.

--_Andrew d.i.c.kson White_.

ANDREW d.i.c.kSON WHITE, a distinguished American scholar and diplomat, was born at Homer, N. Y., November 7, 1832, and died in 1918. He has written: "Outlines of Lectures on Mediaeval and Modern History," "The Plan of Organization for Cornell University," "The New Education,"

"Report on Co-Education of the s.e.xes," "The Warfare of Science," "Seven Great Statesmen in the Warfare of Humanity with Unreason," "The Work of Benjamin Hale," "Lecture on the Problem of High Crime in the United States," etc.

The man who is so conscious of the rect.i.tude of his intention as to be willing to open his bosom to the inspection of the world is in possession of one of the strongest pillars of a decided character. The course of such a man will be firm and steady, because he has nothing to fear from the world, and is sure of the approbation and support of heaven.

--_Wirt_.

WILLIAM WIRT, a renowned American lawyer and author, was born at Bladensburg, Md., November 8, 1772, and died at Washington, D. C., February 18, 1834. He wrote: "Letters of a British Spy," "The Rainbow,"

and his best known work, "Sketches of the Life and Character of Patrick Henry."