Born in Pennsylvania, he was early apprenticed to a tailor. He drifted until at last he made his way to Italy, where he studied and painted for several years. Later he made Rome his permanent residence, and died there. He was known as a clever artist and sculptor, but his best work is the two poem; here quoted.
The poems by Read are used by special permission of J. B. Lippincott Company, the authorized publishers of the poems.
STORM ON ST. BERNARD
Storm on St. Bernard may be compared with Excelsior in general subject matter. Do they affect you in the same way? Are they alike in purpose? Which seems most real to you? Why is "Excelsior" the more familiar?
DRIFTING
Read was essentially an artist, and in this poem he expressed his artistic soul more truly than in anything else he ever did.
19. Ischia: an island in the bay of Naples.
22. Capri: an island in the Mediterranean, best known for the Blue Grotto.
WALT WHITMAN (1819-1891)
"Walt Whitman...the chanter of adhesiveness, of the love of man for man,
may not be attractive to some of us... But Walt Whitman the tender nurse,
the cheerer of hospitals, the saver of soldier lives, is much more than
attractive he is inspiring."
—W. P. TRENT.