Classic and Contemporary Poetry
A DOUBLE-BARRELLED SONNET TO MARK TWAIN: 1. FIRST BARREL, by WILLIAM DEAN HOWELLS Poem Explanation Poet's Biography First Line: The man whose birthday we renown tonight Last Line: Gainsay him the glory of being sixty-seven. Alternate Author Name(s): Howells, W. D. Subject(s): Birthdays; Twain, Mark (samuel Langhorne Clemens) | ||||||||
The man whose birthday we renown tonight Unites all heads and hearts in one acclaim As never any other "heir of fame": The missionary may not love him quite, The imperialist may not think him wholly right. The predatory cabman free from blame, The moralist consider it the same To teach by joke as with a text in sight. Some as a scientist may not prize him much; Some may deny him the true lyric leaven As poet; some the fine old Bewick touch As wood engraver; but none under heaven, Of all his critics, or those who pose as such, Gainsay him the glory of being sixty-seven. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...LAST LAUGH by ROBERT PENN WARREN WELCOME TO MARK TWAIN by LOUIS FRECHETTE MARK TWAIN: A PIPE DREAM by OLIVER BROOK HERFORD A DOUBLE-BARRELLED SONNET TO MARK TWAIN: 2. SECOND BARREL by WILLIAM DEAN HOWELLS THE AMERICAN JOKE (READ AT THE BIRTHDAY DINNER TO S.L. CLEMENS) by WILLIAM DEAN HOWELLS MARK TWAIN AND JOAN OF ARC by NICHOLAS VACHEL LINDSAY TO MARK TWAIN by HENRY VAN DYKE WHEN THE MISSISSIPPI FLOWED IN INDIANA by NICHOLAS VACHEL LINDSAY AUTHORS' RESIDENCES by JOHN UPDIKE |
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