“Every Place a Temple,”—John Pierpont.
John Pierpont, a well-known American clergyman and poet, was born in Litchfield, Conn., April 6, 1785, and died in Medford, Mass., August 27, 1866. He wrote: “Airs of Palestine, and Other Poems,” also, his famous poem “Warren’s Address at the Battle of Bunker Hill.”
It came upon the midnight clear,
That glorious song of old,
From angels bending near the earth
To touch their harps of gold:
“Peace on the earth, good-will to men,
From Heaven’s all-gracious King!”
The world in solemn stillness lay
To hear the angels sing.
“The Angels’ Song,”—Edmund Hamilton Sears.
Edmund Hamilton Sears, a noted American clergyman, religious writer and poet was born in Sandisfield, Mass., April 6, 1810, and died at Weston, Mass., January 14, 1876. He wrote: “Regeneration,” “Pictures of the Olden Time,” “Athanasia,” “Christian Lyrics,” “The Fourth Gospel: the Heart of Christ,” “Sermons and Songs of the Christian Life,” “Christ in the Life,” etc.
Dreams, books, are each a world; and books, we know,
Are a substantial world, both pure and good.
Bound these, with tendrils strong as flesh and blood,
Our pastime and our happiness will grow.
“Personal Talk,” Stanza 3,—William Wordsworth.
William Wordsworth, the great English poet, was born at Cockermouth, Cumberland, April 7, 1770, and died at Rydal Mount, April 23, 1850. Among his noted works are: “The Excursion,” “Lyrical Ballads,” “The Prelude,” “Peter Bell,” “The Waggoner,” “Sonnets,” “Yarrow Revisited and Other Poems,” “Poems,” “An Evening Walk,” etc.
I sing New England, as she lights her fire
In every Prairie’s midst; and where the bright
Enchanting stars shine pure through Southern night,
She still is there, the guardian on the tower,
To open for the world a purer hour.
“New England,”—William E. Channing.