Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1901-08-10
Books and Authors.

the dean of American 10y S."'""'"
his seventy.sixth bir,hdax . re'eo a" "art
Vas a notable one. for M. me even.
sne iast hs,ns member Of little
Tru'p ., ' p,.wa including Longfellow.
Whittier, h,yant, Lower Emerson
rec Holmes. Willis. Halleck and a
few others. who wrote A, az a
poetry and whose places s,;, ' ,amn;"
vacant because no new s,''.s 80
strength and Sweetness bav" r;san -
take them.
The white haired veteran ,o uos
the intimate friend of uam.,horna
Longfeliow. Bayard Tav,or Hwn;,,;ar
holmes. nipple, James T. Fields, N.
?. Willis. Halleck and Anc. and
Phoebe cary and the acopaintarce of
Poe. Emerson and practica,,,. avsrv
literary man or woman OF nn,o wbo
has either resided in or v;.,.s, ,h;s
country during the past 20 ,.aors-is
still as vigorous mentally 81 over
despite his threescore anas s;v,aan
Ncars. and dees a creditah,. 1.aov.s
Fork each day as literary ad;,or IL tho
New York Mail and Express His
Opinions concerning the merits of the
new soooks OF the day, have great
weight and an occasional poem in one
IF the great magazines demonstrates
that the veterans Verse. like o,d vine
improves with age. 49,,
The quaint title home OF NJ Stodf
dard near Stuyvesant park. New York
is a Seritable treasure house of rare
old books lnot to mention all the new
ones). interesting pictures. curios from
all over the world. bound manuscripts
of famous authors. autographs. old
prints. old china and colonial furniture.
Eugene Field described il wen in his
poem, THE Stoddards." the onening
lines of which are:
When | am IN New York. I like 10 drop
around ~ night
the Stoddar IDS hight.
Their home IL fifteenth street is all so
snug and finished So
That when onee get planted there
don't know when to GO
\ cnsey. cheerful refuge for the weary
hOmeSiCk guest
Combining YanG,e comforts with the
freedom ot 80 West
There seems 10 be bookcase in
every corner and along every wall.
Eooks-always hodks-are piled around
some mustY and all Old
Tail. solemn fuids Slch as Lamb de-
clIrcd he loved 10 hold:
.lrSe paper ooli-s with their virgin mar
gins white ami wide
Md presentation volumes with the
authors comps inside
| break thu tenth commandment with Il
wild. impaSsiouei cry:
oh. how came Stdddarl by these things?
Why Stoddard and not >"
to again quote Field. and there among
his literary treasures old and new the
poet. critic and biblophile does his
work. dispensing. with the aid of his
wife, Elizabeth StOddard. the novelist.
wasm hospitality 10 such literary and
other friends as nay call.
The poets birthplace was bingham.
Mass. where the Stoddard family
settled as early as 1888. The date of
his birth was Juy2. 1926. His an
cestors We're seafaring folk. and when
the future poet was but two or three
years old his father. the young cap
tain of the brig Royal Arch. was lost
ct sea. The widow being left in rather
straitened circumstances. married
again. and in 1885. when her boy was
but ten years of age. became resi-
dent of New York city.
The story of my early life is taic
of mean streets" the poet said re-
Gently, for we were very poor, anu
our quarters in New York We're hum
hle. AS a small hoy spent little OF
nv time in school and much of 1t at
work. | sold matches, was an ONCE
boy and earned little money in
lawyers office. What may be termed
any want of education was obtalheu III
a New York public school. and from
eighteen to twenty-one l devoted my
self to the uncongnial task OF earn
ing the ironmouldsr's irade. rfo''i
early bovhood l hid been lohu vi
hooks, and | became bloiloiIHi' ma
soon after entering my teens p"s
books in the old stalls with the MI!
cents month my mother allowed NE
from nv wages. Ia these places, too'
I would often loitet reading Neu','
Wordsworth. Shelleyand other Ehsi!n"
poets. whose books was then uhap'e
10 purchase. | uiei finally TO "ri'e
verse, but Fortunately iache"
courage to attempt getting mo
Though not consciously imita''.e VI
any one. my early verse must hat
reflected nv early reading I"eih
after poem was written in my peur"oii'
b. the light OF din oil lamp ai'e' I"
| hard days work. and when tiieie
n good stock on hanl l made q o
fire. | wrote and wrote and pufhe"
! and burned and finally summoned up
courasa and sent something TO nj
! tie magazine which, much 10 my %.
prise. printed it, Equal luck awai!e"
! me in one or two other peTlou''ais'
ana 7 VAS soon regular coh'riou ~,
| to The Knickerbocker Magazine ne
Union Magazine, Sartain's Mas"N'''e
and others
| This. modestly told. is the s'o' y.
Mr.. Steddard's boyhood ana VI -,
struggles as he bridged the chas" :,
tween poverty and mean stfee''
the heights of Parnassus. In my
hearing recently friend WIN ,,,a,
him in youth expressed surpr'sc
a poet Of such fire and imas."'.'o,
should AVE been product VI
environment and such circuiiis''n 80;
He had little schooling ana p'" 49,
Cally educated himself" saiu
friend. An occupant of the 80
quarter in the city. it may aiH'os' y.
said th;t he never saw io" 49,,
knew atree. BY day he was d"
noulGe! ly night STUDENT anu .
sing pet. Al have never .,,arse