Oct 08 2009
Springfield, IL: “To Write So Fine A Piece”
Having slacked off on the monthly review of Holidays, Festivals and other Events in Malaysia, Switzerland and the USA for quite a while now (I only managed Jan Feb Mar April & May 2009!), I’m going to be exploring and sharing some of the Festivals and Events happening in Springfield, IL on a one-on-one basis. This is the first of hopefully many many more to come!
To Write So Fine A Piece
Date: Saturday, October 10th 2009
Time: 2pm - 3pm
Location: Lincoln’s Tomb, Oak Ridge Cemetery
Cost: free, open to the public
Lincoln’s Tomb Oak Ridge Cemetery Springfield, IL (source)
What it’s all about:
Abraham Lincoln loved poetry, and had many favourites that were committed to memory and often quoted. Of one of them, he once declared “I would give all I am worth, and go into debt, to be able to write so fine a piece* as I think that is,” thus providing the title for this event: a presentation of Mr Lincoln’s favourite poems, performed and interpreted by Lincoln Tomb volunteers and speech students and the theater director of Glenwood High School.
Among the poets that will be featured:
- Robert Burns
- Thomas Campbell
- Oliver Wendall Holmes
- Thomas Hood
- William Knox
- Henry W. Longfellow
- Herman Melville
- Edgar Allen Poe
- William Shakespeare
.
* and just which poem had such a profound effect on Mr Lincoln? Mortality (or, Oh, why should the spirit of mortal be proud?), by William Knox. Researching this post was the first I’d ever heard of let alone read it. My oh my. I am swept away by this melancholy commentary on how fleeting life is, and, as the first line implies, and by how futile is human arrogance in light of such transience. How could such a poem not resonate with a man like Lincoln?
Additional reading & links:
- Poems by Abraham Lincoln: Poems of Abraham Lincoln.
- Poems about Abraham Lincoln: The Poets’ Lincoln: Tributes in Verse to the Martyred President.
- Abraham Lincoln on wikipedia
