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Article POETS' CORNER. ← Page 2 of 4 →
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Poets' Corner.
though we shall find that it does not interest us so much , nor awaken such strong emotions in our breasts , as the mere name upon some of the simple tablets around , Yet this is the memorial of a great man no less famous a personage than the great le
and cood John , Duke of Argy . But let us pass on . Yet tread not heedlesly . Look upon the floor at that black marble slab . It looks new , and , indeed , it is only five years old . You read the name engraved upon it in letters of
wold . Ah ! this was the magician of our times to whom we before alluded . There rests the body of him who touched our hearts with a skill we could not understand nor resist . " The Cricket on the Hearth , " " The Chimes "—those charming prose idylls—were the work of his hand and
brain . Such different and such vital characters as Sam Weller , Little Em'ly , aud Rose Dartle were his creations . He was a great man , and well did he earn the honour which kings might envy , of a tomb in this glorious spot . And what
uoUe company he keeps here I Near to him are the remains of Handel , of Cumberland , the dramatist , of Macaulay , of Gwriclc , of Sheridan , and Johnson . These are his companions in dust , until the last trump shall sound , and all these
mouldering forms shall be raised again . Some distance to the left of the Duke of Argyle ' s monument we see a small door in the wall which leads into the little chapel of St . Faith . We need not enter , for it is bare and p lain . Over the door of this chapel there is a monument which will at once fix our attention . It is a
marble slab fixed in the wall , ornamented with a curtain , olive branches , and books , and bearing in the centre a finely sculptured medallion , in which we recognize the wellknown portrait of Oliver Goldsmith—the genial , generous , but thoughtless Goldsmith ,
whom his great associates made the butt of their jests , while they could not deny him 'heir admiration and their love . We have aU read some of Goldsmith ' s charming writings , and we have also read or heard ° f some of the amusing anecdotes related
° f him . Who has not heard the often-told story of his tour of Europe on foot , and without any means of subsistence ? The story of his wanderings may be gathered "om his beautiful poem , "The Traveller , "
and from several passages in the " Vicar of Wakefield . " We are told how for this great undertaking he was furnished with " one guinea in his pocket , a shirt on his back , and a flute in his hand . " He was not
dismayed by his situation , however , but wandered on enjoying the present as much as he could , and quite unconcerned for the morrow . " Whenever I approached a peasant ' s house towards nightfall , " he beautifully says , "I played one of my most merry
tunes , and that procured me not only a lodging , but subsistence for the next day . " The happiness which he produced and shared on such occasions is finely described in " The Traveller . " Of course he did not make money in this way , and when he
came to England he was really destitute . Then commenced his literary life , for many years a life of drudgery , poverty and privation , during which be worked industriously , and wrote the sweetest verse and prose in English literature . He was ,
perhaps , the hardest worked drudge that ever a printer or publisher employed , and we think we may also say that he was the most miserable—that is , as regards his want of the comforts , sometimes even the necessaries of life . He worked without
ceasing , and be wrote upon nearly all subj ects . He lived in Green Arbour Court , Old Bailey , "in a wretchedly dirty room , in which there was but one chair , " and here he compiled histories , biographies , his elaborate account of " Animated Nature ;"
composed inimitable essays , and scraps of poetry . It is believed that the popular nursery history of " Goody Two Shoes " was composed by him . In his thirty-sixth year he published" The Traveller , " and this beautiful poem at once secured him the
friendship of some of the most distinguished men of the day . In the next year appeared his delig htful "Vicar of Wakefield , " in which by the way , is inserted , like a diamond in gold , the most perfect ballad in the language , " The Hermit . " When
he was forty-two years of age he published " The Deserted Village , " with the opening verses of which , at least , every school-boy and school-girl is familiar . He apostrop hises his native village in Longford , Ireland , in the well-known lines : "Sweet Auburn ! loveliest village of the plain ,
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Poets' Corner.
though we shall find that it does not interest us so much , nor awaken such strong emotions in our breasts , as the mere name upon some of the simple tablets around , Yet this is the memorial of a great man no less famous a personage than the great le
and cood John , Duke of Argy . But let us pass on . Yet tread not heedlesly . Look upon the floor at that black marble slab . It looks new , and , indeed , it is only five years old . You read the name engraved upon it in letters of
wold . Ah ! this was the magician of our times to whom we before alluded . There rests the body of him who touched our hearts with a skill we could not understand nor resist . " The Cricket on the Hearth , " " The Chimes "—those charming prose idylls—were the work of his hand and
brain . Such different and such vital characters as Sam Weller , Little Em'ly , aud Rose Dartle were his creations . He was a great man , and well did he earn the honour which kings might envy , of a tomb in this glorious spot . And what
uoUe company he keeps here I Near to him are the remains of Handel , of Cumberland , the dramatist , of Macaulay , of Gwriclc , of Sheridan , and Johnson . These are his companions in dust , until the last trump shall sound , and all these
mouldering forms shall be raised again . Some distance to the left of the Duke of Argyle ' s monument we see a small door in the wall which leads into the little chapel of St . Faith . We need not enter , for it is bare and p lain . Over the door of this chapel there is a monument which will at once fix our attention . It is a
marble slab fixed in the wall , ornamented with a curtain , olive branches , and books , and bearing in the centre a finely sculptured medallion , in which we recognize the wellknown portrait of Oliver Goldsmith—the genial , generous , but thoughtless Goldsmith ,
whom his great associates made the butt of their jests , while they could not deny him 'heir admiration and their love . We have aU read some of Goldsmith ' s charming writings , and we have also read or heard ° f some of the amusing anecdotes related
° f him . Who has not heard the often-told story of his tour of Europe on foot , and without any means of subsistence ? The story of his wanderings may be gathered "om his beautiful poem , "The Traveller , "
and from several passages in the " Vicar of Wakefield . " We are told how for this great undertaking he was furnished with " one guinea in his pocket , a shirt on his back , and a flute in his hand . " He was not
dismayed by his situation , however , but wandered on enjoying the present as much as he could , and quite unconcerned for the morrow . " Whenever I approached a peasant ' s house towards nightfall , " he beautifully says , "I played one of my most merry
tunes , and that procured me not only a lodging , but subsistence for the next day . " The happiness which he produced and shared on such occasions is finely described in " The Traveller . " Of course he did not make money in this way , and when he
came to England he was really destitute . Then commenced his literary life , for many years a life of drudgery , poverty and privation , during which be worked industriously , and wrote the sweetest verse and prose in English literature . He was ,
perhaps , the hardest worked drudge that ever a printer or publisher employed , and we think we may also say that he was the most miserable—that is , as regards his want of the comforts , sometimes even the necessaries of life . He worked without
ceasing , and be wrote upon nearly all subj ects . He lived in Green Arbour Court , Old Bailey , "in a wretchedly dirty room , in which there was but one chair , " and here he compiled histories , biographies , his elaborate account of " Animated Nature ;"
composed inimitable essays , and scraps of poetry . It is believed that the popular nursery history of " Goody Two Shoes " was composed by him . In his thirty-sixth year he published" The Traveller , " and this beautiful poem at once secured him the
friendship of some of the most distinguished men of the day . In the next year appeared his delig htful "Vicar of Wakefield , " in which by the way , is inserted , like a diamond in gold , the most perfect ballad in the language , " The Hermit . " When
he was forty-two years of age he published " The Deserted Village , " with the opening verses of which , at least , every school-boy and school-girl is familiar . He apostrop hises his native village in Longford , Ireland , in the well-known lines : "Sweet Auburn ! loveliest village of the plain ,