NOTES AND QUESTIONS
Biography. Richard Henry Stoddard (1825-1903), the son of a sea captain, was born at Hingham, Mass. After the death of his father he moved with his mother to New York City, where, after a short school life, he began work in an iron foundry. He and Bayard Taylor became warm friends, meeting once a week to talk of literary matters. His characterization of Lincoln is regarded as a classic. He wrote both prose and poetry and became noted as a literary critic. He is the author of “Homes and Haunts of Our Elder Poets.”
Discussion. 1. Tell what you can of the author, noting anything in his life that was common to that of Lincoln. 2. Name the qualities that the poet says made Lincoln “one of Nature’s masterpieces.” 3. What does “homely” mean as used in the first line? 4. From your study of pictures of Lincoln what other words can you suggest to describe his features? 5. Explain the meaning of “cunning with the pen.” 6. Repeat any of Lincoln’s famous sayings you know. 7. What does the eighth line tell you of Lincoln’s character? 8. How did his humor help him to win? 9. Why was the “burden of the Commonwealth” so great and why was it laid on his shoulders? 10. Toward what did the road tend “suddenly downward,” and how did Lincoln meet the situation created by Secession? 11. What reasons can you give for calling him a “Benefactor of the Race”? 12. Compare the achievements of Lincoln with those of Washington. 13. Which do you think the better description, that written by Stoddard or that by Jefferson?
Phrases
- [unfought victories won, 587, 3]
- [large designs, 587, 5]
- [Atlas load, 587, 9]
- [burden of the Commonwealth, 587, 10]
- [not a whit dismayed, 587, 12]
O CAPTAIN! MY CAPTAIN!
WALT WHITMAN
O Captain! my Captain! our fearful trip is done,