Show The Autocrat Another of the worlds world's shining lights has burned out Today literature mourns the loss of one of its most prominent men Oliver Wendell Holmes died in Boston Sundy October How glorious was his work How mighty the purpose which inspired his being How sublime and heavenly is such a life Think of Hawthorne the romancer think of Longfellow and Tennyson the heavenly bards think of Emerson the grand philosopher and behold Whittier and Lowell as they awake the nations to duty truth and honor History's pages are crowned with such names and now another full fully as grand and fully as noble has left his sacrifice on literatures literature's altar The mighty works these men have done can never be surpassed if in inmany inmany rh many ny respects equalled The footprints they have left t on the sands of time will live throughout the ages The autumn o of Dr Holmes Holmes' life reflected the tender recollections of his youth and when stern old Time laid his finger upon the harp of his life he was a noble specimen of old age He outlived his associate writers and only a few months ago referring to this this' fact he said These noble men are all gone and I alone remain only to recall from hour to hour those words of Thomas Moore l I am like one who walks along some banquet hall de de- Truly the banquet hall of literature is deserted by many mighty spirits and their memory now walks walks' the silent corridors of the past Can the coming centuries produce their equal Can poetry again show to the world her mighty crown Like a fallen empire she stands on the strong foundation foundation foundation foun foun- dation of the past waiting to be rebuilt by the future With like child-like humor Holmes Holmes' again refers to old age in his little poem entitled The Last Leaf II He pictures an old man passing by the door tottering tottering tottering totter totter- ing oer o'er the ground with his cane shaking his feeble head seeming to say they are all gone and closes with the following lines alluding to himself himself him him- y self I know it is a sin sinFor sin sinFor F For me to sit and grint grin f t At him there But ut the old three-cornered three hat And the breeches and all that f- f Are so queer 1 s J fc And if I should live to be beThe The last leaf upon the tree In the spring Let them smile as I do now At the old forsaken bough Where I cling W I Dr Holmes has not only added gems t to poetry's crown but has given prose 10 E one of her richest colors 3 Besides being a true poet he was a satirist humorist novelist scholar and scientist He belongs to the school of Pope and is the best example that either side of f the Atlantic has pro pro- His fine artistic blending of wit fancy and imagination holds him above every modern English writer His lines are of the highest kind and they show his depth of thought and andy y glorious purpose H His is peaceful and cheerful character traces in distinct and perfect lines the harmony of his verse It is said that the happiness which tinges his sayings is like child-like hence z heavenly heavenly heavenly-heavenly heavenly in the sense of its purity simplicity and truth The foIl following owing li lines es are noted for their melody and grand and sublime rj a thought Ii Build thee more stately mansions 0 O my soul As the swift seasons roll 1 I Leave thy vaulted low past 1 I ILet Let each new temple nobler than the last Shut thee from heaven with a dome more vast I 1 Till thou at length art free rf t. t Leaving thine outgrown shell by lifes life's seal t- t Men like Holmes have a glorious soul one that is cramped in their earthly bodies and it is not till death sets them free that they return to their full destiny leaving their outgrown shell by lifes life's sea Like his brother poets and writers Holmes has de developed eloped the thought of the age unraveled the mysteries of nature and led humanity to see all that thatis is lovely in human nature character and creation Anyone who cheers the mourner inspires the weak or lights the wanderer lives nearer to that glorious Teacher whose example lights the whole world Holmes' Holmes religious poems will ever live in the hearts of Christians They are colored with the purity of the author and a love for hi his God As a prose writer Holmes has obtained fame for he is great always 1 pleasant and cheerful The Autocrat at the Breakfast Table is considered his chief prose work This book was contributed by by him to the Atlantic Monthly it a magazine named by him It has been called a prose and this with its truth of statement and humor makes it tive Holmes' Holmes talent in the description tion of characters was remarkable and when describing the persons at the II breakfast table the picture is vivid His two novels entitled Elsie Venner and the Guardian Angel hold a high place in literature and establish him himas as a novelist before the world Their pathos with humor interwoven make them fascinating Holmes did not only benefit the world by his literary ability but above everything he was a good man one who made the world better for his having having having hav hav- ing lived in it He always sought the noble grand and true rejoicing in nature and Gods God's endless handiwork The hope of his life was that he had brought happiness to others and he said To do a little good in life is something It How much of this noble nobleman's nobleman's nobleman's mans man's work will be remembered now he is gone How many will stop in their voyage of life to take a look at the ship in the harbor marked in golden letters II Lifes Life's Labor LaborN N Won Non on Aggie Sharp |