The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1901-08-29
cAFaIces OF FAME.
Writers VINO Live by n single Dooh
or FocrN. Some by a sInuIc Linz.

Wrters VINO Live by n single DOOR
or Poerls Some by single Line.
1t as one cf the many odd expert
ences Of life that while some men In
pursuit OF fame write library OF
books aud die and are forgotten other
men under some happy inspiration
write a single line, poem or volume
and are forever ranked with the i'm
nortals.
In some cases Immortality goes a-bcg-
ging from the modest shrinking of an
author to claim his offspring, as I'm the
case of the oracle who penned the clo-
qucnt word Don't" in answer to
Punch's request for advice to those
about to marry, but there are many
cases In which men are known by the
work of a few minutes or hours whom
all the rest Of their lfes work would
have left in obscurity.
Very few read Congreve nowadays,
and fewer still could quote half dozen
lines from any Of his poems and dra-
mas, and yet TO many who have never
even heard his name there are few
lines more familiar than the oft quoted
and misquoted, Music hath charms to
soothe the savage breast
Charles Wolfe, the Irish divine and
poet, wrote many poems Of excellence,
but only one rcdeems him and all his
works from obscurlty. the poem which
Lord Bryon himself described as the
most perfect ode in the language" and
of this few could get beyond the first
line, 1--WE buried him darkly at dead
OF night"
Thomas Gray, poet and friend of
Horace Walpole. has left one legacy
only from all his writings, but that is
an imperishable one-hls "Elegy Writ
ten In a Country Churchyard," the
most widely quoted poem In our Ian
guage. Yet those who can rccite every
word of 1t with the infalibility of
phonograph could probably not even
give the name of single other poem
by the same writer.
Lady Anne Barnard would have no
place at all in the public memory If she
had not written that sweet and pa
thetic ballad. "Auld Robin Gray"
which has brought sympathetic tears
20 the eyes of thousands who have not
read another line by it's author.
John Pomfret, the Bedfordshlre poet,
would have been forgotten for nearly
two centuries had he not in a happy
hour penned his exquisite poem, The
Choice" which is considered by many
including Southey and Johnson. the
most perfect and beautiful lyric in our
language.
OF the two English poets OF the
name of Collins one Is only known to
have attempted single poem. but that
has been sufficient to make him immor-
tai among lovers of beautiful verse.
Nothing is known of the life of the au-
thor of Tomorrow" but his poem has
given delight to thousands who could
not give his Christian name or birth
| place ''to save their lives"
Single Speech Hamilton" won ora
torical fame by the very simple expe-
dent of never speaking In the British
parliament except on one occasion, al
though he was n man of political inn
portnnce, chancellor of the exchequer
In Ireland for over 20 years and actual
ly author of volume of speeches. His
works and writings are as dead as
/ ,nelr author. but the Memory OF . at
single impressive speech serves to keep
his memory more alive than that OF
many an orator famous In his lifetime.
There are many men whose memory
will be green for centuries as the con-
sequence OF having produced one sue
cessful book. Cervantes has n popu-
larity almost as widespread as that of
Shakespeare, and yet all his plays are
lost, and of all his writings practically
nothing remains but Don Quixote." a
book which is regarded as a classic In
almost every country of Europe.
Boswell will live as long as the men,
ory of Johnson endures solely through
his life of his great friend. In the same
way Scott confers immortality on his
son-in-law and biographer. Lockhart,
for, apart from this single valuable
contribution to our knowledge of the
great magician, Lockhart and all his
writings would be forgotten by all but
the student.
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