Through the Year with Famous Authors

by Mabel Patterson

Unconsciousness is one of the most important conditions of a good style in speaking or in writing.

—Richard Grant White.

Richard Grant White, an eminent American journalist, critic, and Shakespearean scholar, was born in New York City, May 22, 1822, and died there, April 8, 1885. Among his books are: “National Hymns: A Lyrical and National Study for the Times,” “Memoirs of the Life of William Shakespeare, with an Essay Towards the Expression of His Genius,” “Poetry of the Civil War,” “Words and Their Uses,” “England Without and Within,” etc.

The bow was made in England:
Of true wood, of yew-wood,
The wood of English bows;
So men who are free
Love the old yew-tree
And the land where the yew-tree grows.

“Songs of Action: Song of the Bow,” etc. I,—Sir A. Conan Doyle.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, a renowned Scotch story and romance writer, was born in Edinburgh, May 22, 1859. His works include: “A Study in Scarlet,” “The Sign of the Four,” “The White Company,” “The Great Shadow,” “Adventures of Sherlock Holmes,” “The Hound of the Baskervilles,” “Adventures of Gerard,” “Return of Sherlock Holmes,” “Sir Nigel,” “Through the Magic Door,” “The Fires of Fate,” “The Crime of the Congo,” “The Lost World,” “The Case of Oscar Slater,” “The Valley of Fear,” “A Visit to Three Fronts,” “His Last Bow,” etc.

I remember, I remember
The fir-trees dark and high;
I used to think their slender-tops
Were close against the sky;
It was a childish ignorance,
But now ’tis little joy
To know I’m farther off from heaven
Than when I was a boy.

“I remember, I remember,”—Thomas Hood.

Thomas Hood, the great English poet, was born in London, May 23, 1799, and died there May 3, 1845. Among his poetical works are: “The Haunted House,” “Whims and Oddities,” “The Plea of the Midsummer Fairies,” and “The Hostler’s Lament,” “The Bridge of Sighs,” and “The Song of the Shirt.”

Chance cannot touch me! Time cannot hush me!
Fear, hope, and longing, at strife,
Sink as I rise, on, on, upward forever,
Gathering strength, gaining breath,—naught can sever
Me from the Spirit of Life!