Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1900-06-28
\ Poetic Genius Buried in Ora Mt County

A Poetic Genius Buried in Ora Mt County
In the Hazel Green cemetery is this
inscription on a stone:
james Gates Percival
Born in
Berlin. Connecticut.
September Is. 1875.
Graduated at Yale College
b. A 1915. NJ. D. 1920.
State Geologist
! Wisconsin 1S54-1S56.
Died in Hazel Green
May Z. 1856.
Eminent as Poet. Rarely accom-
plished as Linguist Learned and
acute in Science.
A man without guile"
1t is the grave Of one whom some
conceive to be one of the greatest Of
men. The preacher at Berlin. Conn.
(Percival's home) has made a study of
him. This preacher writes in The
Connecticut Magazine:
Il may be alone in my opinion. but
| believe Sidney Lanier's Sunrise on
the Marshes to be the best specimen
of American poetry. and Percival 5
'Apostrophe to the Sun in Prone
theus. to rank very nearly equal to
that masterpiece. And both were
written by men who hardly knew
where the next meal would come
from. and both were shorn of part of
their strength by the hardships of
life
The following description of the
warrior is taken from Percivals poem
entitled The Contrast
ITO his gallant horse the warrior sprung
! They called but he would not stay
| And the hoot of his hurryiug charger rung.
| AS to battle he rushed away.
she stood aloft on the warder's tower.
4 And She followed him over the plain,
And she watched through many a silent
hour.
But she heard not his tramp again.
They came when the morning was cold and
pale.
With a warrior on his bier
i And his banner rent like a tattered sail
i Showed he died not the death II tear.
They brought him in pride ana sorrow back
/ To the. home ne mad lett 50 say.
4 When he CALAMITY flew on 9 tory,s track.
I And to battle rushed away.
Percival. like many poets, was a
misiit in life He could do a great
many things. As linguist he had
few equals. He could read and write
! correctly French. Italian. Spanish and
German He mastered the Gaelic and
/ the Slavonic languages in their sever
al divergences; he conquered San
scrit and wrote poems in thirteen diff
ferent tongues. lie was admitted to
/ the bar. He passed the examination
i as ply sician He edited neWspa-
per, translated and revised geog-
! raphv. was a thorn in the side OF Dr..
Walker through the profundity Of his
chronological knowledge when editing
and revising the dictionary: he gave
/ lectures on botany. knew a. much OF
minerologv as any contemporary
American. and his service to the sci
ence Of geology by his work in the
states Of Connecticut and Wisconsin
would have been sufficient for the life
work of any ordinary man.
Tire people OF IIazel Green. Wis.
/ are proud that Percival once lived ia
their midst aud proud OF the modest
monument that eastern admirers have
4 paid for The poets hair was white
when he came 10 Hazel Green. He
was sent bv the American Mining
company of New York TO make a &c
illogical survey q their lands. In
1s53 the company failed. The next
wear Governor Barstow made him
state geologi~t. Il suggests what
sort of a man he was that President
Dwight said to him on the occasion Of
his graduation Engage in some
regular occupation. Percival. or you
are a ruined man"
He was slack and disorderly in per-
sonal appearance and the villagers
knew that he was great but could not
understand him. A publisher wrote
him: "A poem from your pen will be
regarded as draft payable at sight.
His best friend in Hazel Green was
DR.. Jenckes Percival died in his
home Of severe cold May
,. 1855 Toe house in which be died,
the hotel where he boarded and the
armchair in which he used to 81 are
cherished by the citizens. Observer 5
Gossip in State Journal.