Abraham Lincoln: Poet

Here's a great article by Robert Pinsky at Slate about the poetry of Abraham Lincoln. In particular, he focuses on a poem Lincoln wrote after returning to his Indiana home after twenty years away called "My Childhood-Home I See Again." He is initially nostalgic, but then saddened by the news that many of his childhood friends have died. Later on, the poem moves in a more tragic direction as Lincoln remembers a friend named Matthew who went insane at 19 and was institutionalized. 

Here is "My Childhood-Home I See Again"

My childhood-home I see again,
..

And gladden with the view;


And still as mem'ries crowd my brain,
...

.There's sadness in it too.

O memory! thou mid-way world
...

.'Twixt Earth and Paradise,


Where things decayed, and loved ones lost
.

...In dreamy shadows rise.

And freed from all that's gross or vile,
..

..Seem hallowed, pure, and bright,


Like scenes in some enchanted isle,
...

.All bathed in liquid light.

As distant mountains please the eye,
....

When twilight chases day—


As bugle-tones, that, passing by,
...

.In distance die away—

As leaving some grand water-fall
..

..We ling'ring, list it's roar,


So memory will hallow all
...

.We've known, but know no more.

Now twenty years have passed away,
....

Since here I bid farewell


To woods, and fields, and scenes of play
...

.And school-mates loved so well.

Where many were, how few remain
....

Of old familiar things!


But seeing these to mind again
..

..The lost and absent brings.

The friends I left that parting day—
....

How changed, as time has sped!


Young childhood grown, strong manhood grey,
...

.And half of all are dead.

I hear the lone survivors tell
....

How nought from death could save,


Till every sound appears a knell,
...

.And every spot a grave.

I range the fields with pensive tread,
...

.And pace the hollow rooms;


And feel (companions of the dead)
...

.I'm living in the tombs.

And here's an object more of dread,
....

Than ought the grave contains—


A human-form, with reason fled,
....

While wretched life remains.

Poor Matthew! Once of genius bright,—
...

.A fortune-favored child—


Now locked for aye, in mental night,
..

..A haggard mad-man wild.

Poor Matthew! I have ne'er forgot
...

.When first with maddened will,


Yourself you maimed, your father fought,
...

.And mother strove to kill;

And terror spread, and neighbours ran,
...

.Your dang'rous strength to bind;


And soon a howling crazy man,
....

Your limbs were fast confined.

How then you writhed and shrieked aloud,
....

Your bones and sinnews bared;


And fiendish on the gaping crowd,
....

With burning eye-balls glared.

And begged, and swore, and wept, and prayed,


....With maniac laughter joined—


How fearful are the signs displayed,
...

.By pangs that kill the mind!

And when at length, tho' drear and long,
...

.Time soothed your fiercer woes—


How plaintively your mournful song,
...

.Upon the still night rose.

I've heard it oft, as if I dreamed,
....

Far-distant, sweet, and lone;


The funeral dirge it ever seemed
....

Of reason dead and gone.

To drink it's strains, I've stole away,
...

.All silently and still,


Ere yet the rising god of day
....

Had streaked the Eastern hill.

Air held his breath; the trees all still
..

..Seemed sorr'wing angels round,


Their swelling tears in dew-drops fell
...

.Upon the list'ning ground.

But this is past, and nought remains
....

That raised you o'er the brute.


Your mad'ning shrieks and soothing strains
...

.Are like forever mute.

Now fare thee well: more thou the cause
...

.Than subject now of woe.


All mental pangs, but time's kind laws,
....

Hast lost the power to know.

And now away to seek some scene
...

.Less painful than the last—


With less of horror mingled in
....

The present and the past.

The very spot where grew the bread
...

.That formed my bones,

I see.
How strange, old field, on thee to tread,
....

And feel I'm part of thee!

A House Divided - Abraham Lincoln Tells It Like It Is

Today in 1858, Illinois candidate for Senate Abraham Lincoln said, “a house divided against itself cannot stand.”

Abraham Lincoln and Thomas Jefferson compete in my mind for the title of the best presidential writer, and this 1858 speech by Lincoln showed his prowess at turning a powerful phrase. The metaphor of a house divided was a perfect description for the contentious antebellum years. Half of the country believed slavery was protected in our nation’s Constitution, and were growing increasingly hostile to any threat to its “peculiar institution.” Meanwhile, the North was growing impatient at what it believed to be the increased demands of the South to not only continue the institution of slavery, but to allow its spread to the western territories. Lincoln’s prediction that this kind of national tension could not last with both sides refusing to alter its position would prove tragically accurate when he was elected to the presidency in 1860.

He was able to gain the nomination in part from the national notoriety he earned in the 1858 Senate race in which he famous debated his Democratic opponent Stephen Douglas on numerous occasions. He delivered his “House Divided” address on the day he accepted the Republican nomination for the United States Senate in Springfield, Illinois. The image of a “House Divided,” united Republicans across the country who feared the debate over slavery would lead to disunion. While this “House Divided” speech has become one of Lincoln’s most famous, the metaphor was not his own. The language comes originally from the Book of Matthew, “ Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand.” Lincoln was also not the first to allude to this biblical passage in commenting on the American political landscape. During the Senate debate on the Compromise of 1850, Sam Houston also referenced the Book of Matthew, “A nation divided against itself cannot stand.” While Lincoln may not have originated the line or its use in comparison to American politics, he had the keen sense to shape words and phrases that were worthy of the historical moment.

To read the speech in its entirety, click here, or visit the Presidential History page of my site.

[Image via rhapsodyinbooks]

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter?

Throughout the week, Abraham Lincoln has appeared in the news (NYTimes)  in connection with a new book that just hit stores. The book is entitled Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, and was written by the same author that recently had a hit with Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. This latest effort at reimagining Abraham Lincoln has already managed to polarize Lincoln scholars (as if that took much anyway). As the Daily Beast reported, the founding director of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library is none too pleased with the book that casts the Great Emancipator as an axe wielding vampire hunter. In an email interview, Robert Norton Smith described the idea of Lincoln as a vampire hunter as “the most inane idea imaginable.” He went on to add that the book is, “a true bastardization of the Lincoln story.”

That said, Doris Kearns Goodwin (author of Team of Rivals) is said to be a fan. Is it wrong to be a fan of such an insane and silly interpretation of Lincoln, as Norton Smith suggests? I think not. I haven’t read the book, but I think generally speaking anything that encourages greater interest in American history is a good thing. Maybe Lincoln himself may have enjoyed the book; he certainly had a taste for the macabre.

He was known to recite the poetry of Edgar Allan Poe, and even wrote his own Poe-like true crime short story entitled “Remarkable Case of Arrest for Murder,” which was published in a local newspaper. 

            While I agree that the idea of Lincoln as a “vampire hunter” is laughable and probably an attempt to cash in on the popularity of all things vampire related, I think the historians who are taking aim at this book are missing the point. Maybe someone who never would have thought to read a book on Lincoln or the Civil War era will read this and want to learn more about American history. 

Will you read Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter?

            [Images via bestdamncreativewritingblog and avocado-owlet]

“...The Better Angels of Our Nature.” - President Lincoln Inaugurated

Imagine you are finally elected to the political office to which you’ve always aspired, only to have half the country secede as a result. This was the case when Abraham Lincoln was elected to the presidency in 1860. The country was in a precarious position when Lincoln took the oath of office on March 4, 1861, and Lincoln had already confronted the inherent danger personally. He had taken a long train ride from his home in Springfield, Illinois fearing he might never see his friends again. He even broke from his family to make the last part of the journey alone and in secret, as his security team believed he might face attempts on his life while traveling through Maryland. Despite these risks, Lincoln broke from his security advisors in deciding to ride to the capital in an open carriage with President Buchanan on the morning of his inauguration.

Many southern states had already seceded, and Lincoln was trying to hold on to the border states without placating to southern demands. He was in a position that no other president had ever faced in American history. However, rather than appear bitter or angry, his first inaugural address is cloaked in words of reconciliation. “We are not enemies, but friends,” said Lincoln. “We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature. “

With his inauguration, Abraham Lincoln was taking on arguably the toughest task every faced by an American president - namely, how to reunite and reconcile a nation that was coming apart at the seams. Rather than vilify southerners as enemies, he emphasized their shared ties to the union, a tone he would recall in his second inaugural when the war was coming to a close.

            To read Lincoln’s First Inaugural Address in its entirety, click here.

[Image via unomaha]

Happy Presidents’ Day!

The history of Presidents’ Day goes back to 1880, when Washington’s Birthday, February 22^nd, was celebrated as a federal holiday within the District of Columbia. Washington Day was the first holiday created to honor an American in United States history. The holiday spread to all federal offices nationwide in 1885. On January 1, 1971, the holiday shifted from February 22^nd to the third Monday in February by the Uniform Monday Holiday Act. This made the “Washington’s Birthday” holiday somewhat of a fraud as it was no longer celebrated on Washington’s actual birthday. Attempts to officially change the name of the holiday to “Presidents’ Day” initially stalled, but after advertisers began to recognize the day as “Presidents’ Day,” most states followed suit. The day shifted from a holiday in which Americans might pay tribute to Washington, to a day that pays tribute to the presidency itself. Most states interpret the holiday to honor two of our greatest presidents, George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, as their birthdays both fall in February (Lincoln’s birthday is February 12^th).

            Interestingly, because the states have been left to acknowledge the holiday in their own way, it is celebrated differently across the country. For example, Alabama honors both George Washington and Thomas Jefferson on Presidents’s Day (even though Jefferson’s birthday is in April). Massachusetts also honors other presidents besides Washington, namely those with ties to the state including John Adams, John Quincy Adams, Calvin Coolidge and John F. Kennedy. In New Jersey, Illinois, Missouri and Connecticut, Lincoln’s birthday is still celebrated as a state holiday in addition to the federal holiday of Washington’s birthday.

            We might just think of Presidents’ Day as a day off of work or school (if you’re lucky), however, it really is a day to honor the presidency and all those in public service. To that end, here are some recipes to help you celebrate. I may attempt the Lincoln log, and I’ll get back to you on how that goes…

            Until then….Happy Presidents’ Day!

            To learn more about our nation’s presidents, visit the White House’s presidential database.

           

Lincoln Log Cake

1/2 c. flour

¼ c. unflavored cocoa powder

1 tsp. salt

4 eggs, room temperature

¾ c/ sugar

2 tsp. vanilla

Whipped cream

Mix eggs, sugar and vanilla. Beat at high speed until thick and light; approximately 10 minutes. Fold in dry ingredients. Bake in a 15 x 10 inch jelly roll pan lined with wax paper and greased at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes. Remove from oven and loosen sides of pan.

Turn out onto clean towel sprinkled with confectioners' sugar. Peel off wax paper - trim edges and cool 5 minutes. Roll up cake in towel for at least 1 hour. Unroll and spread with whipped cream. Roll up again. Place on serving dish. Frost with chocolate frosting. Run tines of fork length of log for bark effect. Cut in crosswise slices.

           

George Washington Recipe

Cherry Thumbprint Cookies

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 sticks butter or margarine

2 egg yolks

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

maraschino cherries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, mix together the vanilla, butter, egg yolks and brown sugar until creamy. Add the flour and salt and mix well.

Have the children roll the dough into 1" balls and place them on greased cookie sheets. Have the children make a thumbprint in each ball and then place a maraschino cherry in each thumbprint. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes. (Makes about 3 dozen cookies)

[Image via Presidentsresort]

Latest Abe Lincoln Biographer? Bill O'Reilly

As we approach President's Day, a controversial newscaster announced that he plans to add to the long list of books that have already been written on one of our most famous presidents, Abraham Lincoln. 


Fox News host and best-selling author Bill O'Reilly is working on "Killing Lincoln," a history book that will take readers "into Ford's Theater and into the mind of Lincoln's assassin, John Wilkes Booth," according to a statement from Henry Holt and Company.

For more information, go to the msn release.

What do you think of Bill O’Reilly as the next Lincoln biographer?

[Image via insidesocial]

I bought a magic goose from a jolly farmer/ This goose laid Barack Obama - A Short History of Presidential Poems

Here's a great article from the NY Times about the ways in which presidents have been immortalized in poetry, from the days of George Washington to today. Most school children growing up became familiar with Walt Whitman's ode to Lincoln "Oh Captain, My Captain," but this article sheds light on poetic tributes to some lesser known presidents. Reading this article may even inspire you to try your hand at some presidential poetry. Let me know what you come up with.

[Image via drakesbooks]

These Dead Shall Not Have Died in Vain – Lincoln Delivers the Gettysburg Address

On November 19, 1863, Abraham Lincoln delivered one of the most famous speeches in American history. Lincoln was invited to attend the consecration of a cemetery for the Union war dead. For the occasion, he was asked to provide a “few appropriate remarks,” by David Wills, the man charged by the Pennsylvania governor to clean up the aftermath of the battle of Gettysburg.
Wills also asked Edward Everett, a famous orator, to offer remarks at the ceremony. Famously, Everett went on for over two hours before Lincoln spoke. After Everett finally retired, Lincoln rose and delivered what many considered at the time to be an all too brief speech. What is enduring about that ceremony are not the two hours worth of oratory provided by Everett, which have now been forgotten. Instead, generations of Americans have honored how much Lincoln was able to say about that moment in our nation’s history with so few words. First, he honored the dead who had given their lives in the civil war. Beyond that, he also hinted at what his vision of a post- war America might be like, calling for a “new birth of freedom.”
Lincoln served as his own speechwriter. My esteem for him as president only grows when I think that he not only handled the incredible difficulty of governing during the war with grace, but still managed to write words that make the hairs on the back of my neck stand up one hundred and forty-six years later. I always think the power of great speeches is evident when we hear them read aloud, so I have attached a reading of the Gettysburg Address.



Check out an online exhibit on the Gettysburg Address at the Library of Congress.

[Images via Library of Congress]

Save the Date – Thanksgiving Day

Today in 1863, President Abraham Lincoln declared the last Thursday in November as Thanksgiving Day. Prior to the federal appointment of a day of thanksgiving, the holiday was celebrated by different states on different days. It is believed that Secretary of State William Seward actually composed the proclamation designating an official Thanksgiving Day. The manuscript of the proclamation was later sold to benefit Union troops. To read the proclamation in its entirety, click here.

[Image via UAkron]

Lights, Camera, Lincoln!

In the past few days there have been several articles about the future of Steven Spielberg's Lincoln biopic. Like every other Lincolnian out there, I was very excited when I first heard about this project a few years ago. Especially since I heard that Spielberg would be basing his film on Doris Kearns Goodwin's Team of Rivals, which I think is an excellent Lincoln book. However, my excitement has abated in recent months when it seemed that funding and other hiccups would keep the film from ever being made. Imagine my surprise when I read two articles in the UK's Guardian and Variety that quote Spielberg saying that his Lincoln film will move forward, while simultaneously announcing that Robert Redford plans on directing a Lincoln film of his own!

Read the Variety article here, and the Guardian's article here.

Robert Redford plans to direct a film called The Conspirator which focuses on the story of Mary Surratt, a woman accused of conspiring to kill Lincoln. James McAvoy is set to star as an idealistic attorney who comes to believe her claims of innocence while working in her defense. I don't want to ruin the ending of this film but this picture tells a story.

Steven Spielberg's biopic, on the other hand, focuses on Lincoln's anguish over the Civil War. He is quoted in both stories as saying he doesn't mind the competition of Redford's Lincoln film, which will be released first, "We are very happy that Redford will be doing this Lincoln movie," he said. "It is completely different from what our DreamWorks Lincoln movie will be, and we believe that it will add to the commercial potential of our film. Lincoln as a subject is inexhaustible." While I don't know if Redford's film will affect the success of Spielberg's film either positivley or negatively, I can agree that Lincoln as a subject is inexhaustible.

Follow the production of Spielberg’s movie here.

Follow the production schedule of Robert Redford’s film (rumored to be shooting in Savannah, GA) here.

[Images via www.wuis.org and www.usa-civil-war.com]

Presidential Reading lists, do they matter? What do the presidents read?

On August 24th, Slate posted an article analyzing the list of books Obama would be bringing with him on his vacation. Read the article here: http://www.slate.com/id/2226142/?GT1=38001

As the article elucidates, the president’s reading list is at times used as a barometer of national feeling, or in the case of George W. as an attempt to prove intelligence, with mixed results (see Slate article). Obama’s list seems to be a nonstarter because it appears to be based solely on his reading interests at this point. Interestingly, his list includes David McCullough’s John Adams. I wonder if past presidents have read biographies of their predecessors. If so, what motivates these choices besides courting public opinion? Do they conceive of these biographies as historical road maps with warning signs imbedded in the text or more simply as a way to have a conversation through history with other members of the same ultra- exclusive club?

Since reading the Slate article, I’ve been thinking about what our presidents have chosen to read in their free time more broadly. Beyond just using books in our modern age as a public relations tool to connote everyman-ness or further some other agenda, what kinds of books have our presidents turned to in their personal lives away from public scrutiny? Have our presidents viewed their relationship with reading the same way that I have? As a vital relationship that can provide anything from comfort to education to just plain entertainment? With these questions in mind, I have tried to find out some of the books and authors our presidents have turned to while in office.

Abraham Lincoln was famous for being a self made man from America’s frontier. He was self- taught and spent little time if any in organized schools. Instead, Lincoln taught himself by reading whatever books he could get his hands on. He famously said of his love of reading, “My best friend is the man who’ll give me a book I ain’t read.” Of the many books he read in his lifetime, Lincoln’s favorites included Shakespeare’s Macbeth and Hamlet, along with the poetry of Edgar Allan Poe, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Robert Burns and Lord Byron. One can imagine Lincoln entertaining those who worked in the telegraph office with monologues from one of Shakespeare’s dramas while awaiting word from the front during the war. Stories about families forced to turn on one another due to circumstance might have seemed appropriate during a war which often required the same of many American families living in border states.

Teddy Roosevelt was also a voracious reader who was an author in his own right. He authored his own history of the War of 1812 along with several books relating to his love of nature. Teddy has lately been remembered through books and articles for his legacy in furthering the national park system, and this love of nature and the environment was reflected in his reading choices.

Finally, a book that seems to connect many presidents over a large span of years has been the bible. Thomas Jefferson wrote his own version of the New Testament gospels that was in keeping with his interpretation of Christianity. In addition, Millard Fillmore (president from 1850-1853) learned to read by reading the family bible. To him, and countless others, the bible served not only as a religious text, but as an essential educational tool for those not lucky enough to attend formal schools. More than a hundred and fifty years later, George W. Bush would also list the bible as an important book in his life as it represents the foundation of his religious beliefs.

That said, does any of this matter? I love this kind of trivial information, but does the reading list of any president really hold any significance? I guess if we view the experience of reading as something of a transformative experience, as something that molds us, then we might take into account one’s personal library as an indication of how a person’s worldview has been shaped.

The question of what the presidents read is a favorite of mine, and hopefully I will get a chance to return to it in the future in greater detail.

Images via Mediabistro, Haysville Library, and dachshundlove.