Milford chronicle., 1930-11-21
John Lofland Little Knowm And
Tragic A"thOr Of Harp Of Delaware
One Time Student Of Medicine, Teacher And Poet,
Lived GLOriOWsLy But Died In Obscurity

sick. He takes some laudanum that
is carried on board and it relieves
him. His trip is uneventful except
for this, and he is glad to see the
shores of Delaware once more. How
nice it is to be home! What a great
little place Delaware is! 1t is even
prettier than it was in his memory.
In one of his writings, "A Tale of
TRUTH" he tells of his arrival in
Wilmington. In connection with
the beauty of Delaware he says, "To
mind naturally inclined to poetry,
the sublimities and solitudes of ma
ture create a grandeur of thought
which no language can describe"
He is not speaking of himself. He
is telling the thoughts of all the
poets. down through the ages and
ages to come. He is telling the
thoughts of those who are poets but
do not write on paper all the work.
ings of their mind
When the Bard arrives in Milford
he finds that his step-father has
bought a new home adjoining the
store Qately owned by Mrs. Roude-
bush). He is given a room on the
second floor in the front of the
house on the east side. A small
tower now stands out from one Of
the windows. After the gay, busy
life of Philadelphia, Milford is too
quiet. There is nothing to keep his
mind occupied. He tries teaching in
the Milford Academy. What a try
ing position! He doesn't mind
teaching bright children, but the
majority of children don't even want
to learn. He hadn't much patience
anyhow, for most of the time he is
feeling sick as he did on the boat.
He takes more opium to relieve him.
1t does. When the pains come back
he takes more. 1t never occurs to
him that he will get the opium hab-
it. At last he finds he must not use
opium all the time, for he gets so
he can't do without it. He tries
liquor to make him stop eating the
opium. Thus he acquires the two
bad habits which are destined to
ruin him.
Growing disgusted with teaching
the school, the Bard decides to |
teach his step-brothers and sisters. |
This he enjoys. He reads many of
his favorite books to them but he |
novel reading. In some |
of his writings, which he now has
time for on, he tells of the dangers
of novel reading. After he teaches
them, he has the rest of the day to
work in his "garret." From an old
English encyclopedia, he gets the
plans of an organ and builds one in
his room. He is proud of it. 1t is
really a masterpiece. One morning
he awakes to find it all torn up.
Later he realizes that he was very
drunk the night before, and thought
his organ was the bar. He had torn
it up trying to get another drink.
He is ashamed. He will never drink
that much again. But the habit is
zoo strong now. Another night on
MS way home from somewheres he
inds his way into the Methodist
Episcopal Church. He wanders to
he pulpit. He thinks of all the
study he had put in the scripture.
He thinks of all the conclusions he
has come to. In his drunken con-
lition, hardly realizing what he does
he begins to preach. After he is
inished, he wanders home. He sits
lown and writes. That is his gift.
III his emotions are spent and writ
en- down on paper. Some time later 1
lie decides he will take his poems
where they can be pub ,
ished in book form. He decides to {
70 to Baltimore.
In Baltimore he finds almost the {
anne ways of living as he did a few l
ears ago in Philadelphia. Charm {
ng ladies abound everywhere to de- ]
light the eye. There are theatres, 7
averns, and parties. John is as pop
lar as he was before, if not more /
o. Often, in company with other
literary men, he attends a tavern /
4 the city where he talks with the
est about all subjects of interest.
It this tavern he meets Edgar AL