Comments on: Lincoln’s Sum Book

By: Donald R. McClarey

Donald R. McClarey — Wed, 22 Aug 2012 23:13:16 +0000

I’ve never beem much of a fan of Boz, Fabio, except for A Tale of Two Cities and A Christmas Carol. On the other hand I can read Lincoln’s prose and never cease to be enthralled, often finding points that I have not seen in a speech I have read many times. Lincoln could pack more meaning into fewer words than almost any other writer of the English language.

By: Fabio P.Barbieri

Fabio P.Barbieri — Wed, 22 Aug 2012 18:13:50 +0000

I’ll take your word for it. Anyway, his contemporary Charles Dickens was just as bad.

By: Donald R. McClarey

Donald R. McClarey — Wed, 22 Aug 2012 10:48:07 +0000

The more pretentious of his efforts Fabio were little better. Poetry is admittedly a matter of taste, but there is a good reason why Lincoln’s poetic efforts are blessedly obscure.

By: Fabio P.Barbieri

Fabio P.Barbieri — Wed, 22 Aug 2012 07:06:11 +0000

Oh, c’mon, that is hardly a serious effort. And plenty of Bob Horton’s war songs have lyrics of this kind.

By: Donald R. McClarey

Donald R. McClarey — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 00:13:52 +0000

True Whimsy. Lincoln wrote poems throughout his life, most of it pretty bad:

Gen. Lees invasion of the North written by himself—

In eighteen sixty three, with pomp,
and mighty swell,
Me and Jeff’s Confederacy, went
forth to sack Phil-del,
The Yankees the got arter us, and
giv us particular hell,
And we skedaddled back again,
And didn’t sack Phil-del.

Linclon was a master at prose; when it came to poetry he stank!

By: whimsy

whimsy — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 03:18:03 +0000

from loc.gov

Throughout his life, Abraham Lincoln was an avid reader of poetry. As a teenager, however, Lincoln also began to cultivate an interest in writing poetry. Lincoln’s oldest surviving verses, written when he was between fifteen and seventeen years old, are brief squibs that appear in his arithmetic book.

Abraham Lincoln
his hand and pen
he will be good but
god knows When [1]