The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1889-11-27

specimens OF mankind ana WolnannOod
That burly ehils and clever hizzies
Are bred in sic place as this is"
John B. Dillon properly belongs among
the historians of the state. but as he is the
author OF some beautiful verses, we men
ton him among the early poets. He was
born In Virginia but removed 10 Cincin-
natl, where at the age of nine he lost his
father. His early schooling was neglected,
but by persistent application in his early
manhood he acquired good education.
He learned the printers trade in Cincin-
natl and followed it for some years. At
about the age OF thirty he removed 10
Logansport, Ind, and began the study of
law. But law not suitipg him, he turned
his attention to literary pursuits. He be-
came interested in Indiana and wrote a
history OF the state from 1916 to 1857 This
was the first history of the kind written.
IL still ranks high as an authentic chroni-
Gle, and is said to possess real literary
merit. Mr.. Dillon was the state librarian
for several years and aiterward secretary
OF the state historical society. He took
great interest in educational matters, and
TO him is partly due our present schoo,
system. The poem that first brought Mr.
Dillon into notice was The Burial of the
Beautiful" This was written in his early
manhood and is probably his most popular
poem. We quote one stanza:
Where shall the dead AID the beautiful sleep,
In the vale where the willow and cypress weep,
Where the wind OF the bresthes its softest sigh
where the silvery stream is flowing nigh,
Aud the Gear, pure drops OF its rising sprays
Glitter ike gems in the bright mooas rays;
Where the suns warm smile may never dispcl
Nights tears DER the form VIC loved so WE'LL
In tue vale where the sparkling waters dow,
Where the iairest, earliest vi0lets grow.
anra fha Ell aud nth rrn crffIr Hcf
Bury her there, Barry her there.
Laura VI. Thurston was another Of Indi.
ana's early teachers, who was also poet.
In fact, there are quite a number OF our
writer's who have also been teachers. But
when we remember that the illustrious
Milton, LongfellOw and Lowell were teach
ers, we deem it no disgrace, but rather an
honor that some OF our gifted writers
have been engaged in the same profession.
Indeed, it seems TO me that the teachers
soul, softened and refined by It's daily
contact with the honesty, innocence,
and beauty OF childhood, is peculiarly well
fitted for the creation OF ideal and didactic
poetry. Mrs. Thurston's vocation was the
teaching OF girls, and such was her love
and sympathy for her pupils that some of
her most beautiful poems were inspired
by and addressed to them. The poem en-
titled "The Paths OF Life" was a farewell
address, or rather, a parting song, to a
graduating class. This poem is a model
of its kind-beautiful, didactic-a literary
gem-a sermon:
Go forth-the world is very wide,
And many paths before YOU lie,
Devious ana dangerous and untred;
60 forth with wary eye
Go with the heart by grief unboved;
GO a shadow a cloud
Hath dimmed the laughing sky.
But, lest your wandering footsteps stray,
Choose We the straight and narrow way.
Go! Ye have dreamed fairy dream
o. elOudess skies and fadeeSs 10 wers
OF days whose sunny lapse shall seem
fete OF fest3l bowers,
But of the change, the fear, the strife
The gathering clouds, the storms OF life.
The blight OF autumn showers
We have visiOn-these must be
Unveiled by stern reality.
Mrs. ThurstOn was born and educated
in New England. but spent the last years
of her life in New Albany. She died in
1912 at the early age OF thirty. Two of her
most popular poems are ''Green Hills of
Ny Fatherland" and Crossing the Ale
ghanies."
Among the most promising and gifted of
Indiana's early poets was VI. Louisa Chit
wood. She was born and educated in the
obscure village of Mt Carmel, Franklin
county, Indiana, and though dying at the
early age of twenty-three, vet she is re-
membered-remembere for her sweet
pathetic songs. In personal appearance
she is described as having been handsome;
in conversation, sprightly and Intellectual;
in disposition, sweet and amiable.
As poet she was lar above
the ordinary, and had she lived she
would undoubtedly have won renoWn.
But her dream of fame ended in death.
George D. Prentice, her friend and adj
mirer, collected and published her poems
after her death. This little volume con-
tains many beautiful pOems-the song OF a
sweet and tender soul. Alas, that the life
of one so promising should end so soon!
In all of Miss ChitwoOd's poems there is a
sweet tenderness that is at once pleasing
and touching This may be illustrated by
single stanza from her beautiful poem
entitled "The Graves of the Flowers"
The woods are full of tiny graves.
The sweet graves OF the flowers,
That spring in every sheltered moo
Amid the springtlme hours;
The buttercup lies on the slope
Where first the sunlight fell.
The violet sleeps besides the rill,
The daisy in the dell
Upon no stone is carved the
OF Aprirs children fair;
They persisted whe4 the sky was bright
And gentle was the air
Mr.. BENJAMIN s. Parker has paid Miss
Chitwood a beautiful and appropriate
tribute in the following sonnet:
For her who died so young aud wondrous fair
A fema c Keats-some Shelly should arise
To deck her NIB and crown her golden hair
With wreatas as lovely as her own brown eyes
Weeping with bowed. melOdious head,
AS he who wept for Adonn ais dead.
Fair was her morn, hope tingsd With golden red,
It's promise fair. its JOYS before her spread
Broad as the world. How soon, alas they fed.
And she whose soul to musc's soul was wed,
Lay spotess still and beautiful, but dead.
And vet not dead, the works her hands had
wrought
Preserve her sweetly 70 the world Of thought,
And give their glory to her narrow bed
J. w. CARR.
Send a 2-cent stamp to DIR. J. c. Aver & Co.
Lowell, Mass, for a set of their album cards.
Some Foolish People
Allow a cough to run until it gets beyond thee
I SO, 4