John Greenleaf Whittier
John Greenleaf Whittier
John Greenleaf Whittierwas an American Quaker poet and advocate of the abolition of slavery in the United States. Frequently listed as one of the Fireside Poets, he was influenced by the Scottish poet Robert Burns. Whittier is remembered particularly for his anti-slavery writings as well as his book Snow-Bound...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionPoet
Date of Birth17 December 1807
CountryUnited States of America
winter autumn snow
Autumn, in his leafless bowers, is waiting for the winter's snow.
nuts hands woods
And close at hand, the basket stood With nuts from brown October's wood. And close at hand, the basket stood With nuts from brown October's wood.
grief leisure poverty
Small leisure have the poor for grief.
summer lying flower
Beneath the winter's snow lie germs of summer flowers.
light hair gone
So fallen! so lost! the light withdrawn Which once he wore; The glory from his gray hairs gone For evermore!
mean sleep men
The age is dull and mean. Men creep, Not walk; with blood too pale and tame To pay the debt they owe to shame; Buy cheap, sell dear; eat. drink, and sleep down-pillowed, deaf to moaning want; Pay tithes for soul-insurance; keep Six days to Mammon, one to Cant
time epic giving
Give lettered pomp to teeth of Time, So "Bonnie Doon" but tarry; Blot out the epic's stately rhyme, But spare his "Highland Mary!"
thankful fear grateful
No longer forward or behind I look in hope or fear, But grateful, take the good I find, The best of now and here.
father agriculture corn
But let the good old corn adorn The hills our fathers trod; Still let us, for his golden corn, Send up our thanks to God!
true-life example life-is
A true life is at once interpreter and proof of the gospel.
love-is evil joy
Life's sunniest hours are not without The shadow of some lingering doubt-- Amid its brightest joys will steal Spectres of evil yet to feel-- Its warmest love is blent with fears, Its confidence a trembling one-- Its smile--the harbinger of tears-- Its hope--the change of April's sun! A weary lot--in mercy given, To fit the chastened soul for heaven.
infidelity despair
Despair is infidelity and death.
art miracle fame
Around the mighty master came The marvels which his pencil wrought, Those miracles of power whose fame Is wide as human thought.
god storm mazes
Yet, in the maddening maze of things, And tossed by storm and flood, To one fixed trust my spirit clings; I know that God is good!