John Greenleaf Whittier

John Greenleaf Whittier (December 17, 1807 – September 7, 1892) was an influential American Quaker poet and ardent advocate of the abolition of slavery in the United States. He is usually listed as one of the Fireside Poets. Whittier was strongly influenced by the Scottish poet Robert Burns. Highly regarded in his lifetime and for a period thereafter, he is now remembered for his poem Snow-Bound, and the words of the hymn Dear Lord and Father of Mankind, from his poem "The Brewing of Soma", sung to music by Hubert Parry.

Read more about John Greenleaf Whittier:  Poetry, Criticism, Legacy, List of Works

Famous quotes containing the words john greenleaf whittier, greenleaf whittier, greenleaf and/or whittier:

    She leaned far out on the window-sill,
    And shook it forth with a royal will.

    “Shoot, if you must, this old gray head,
    But spare your country’s flag,” she said.

    A shade of sadness, a blush of shame,
    Over the face of the leader came;
    John Greenleaf Whittier (1807–1892)

    So fallen! so lost! the light withdrawn
    Which once he wore!
    The glory from his gray hairs gone
    Forevermore!
    —John Greenleaf Whittier (1807–1892)

    Just the same as a month before,—
    The house and the trees,
    The barn’s brown gable, the vine by the door,—
    Nothing changed but the hives of bees.
    —John Greenleaf Whittier (1807–1892)

    But he thought of his sisters, proud and cold,
    And his mother, vain of her rank and gold.
    —John Greenleaf Whittier (1807–1892)