John Greenleaf Whittier



John Greenleaf Whittier (December 17, 1807 – September 7, 1892) was an American poet, a Quaker, and a forceful advocate of the abolition of slavery in the United States. In his work with the abolitionist movement, he was also involved in the formation of the Republican Party. In the field of literature, he is best known as a hymnist. He is also remembered as one of the Fireside Poets, as well as for writing and publishing Snow-Bound: A Winter Idyl in 1866, which was a best seller throughout the remainder of his lifetime. From the profits of this poem, he was able to live comfortably at home until he died on September 7, 1892, at a friend’s home in Hampton Falls, New Hampshire, and was buried with the rest of his family in Amesbury. John Greenleaf Whittier was both artist and strong moral voice.

Youth
John Greenleaf Whittier was born on December 17, 1807, the second of four children, to John and Abigail Hussey Whittier, at their rural homestead in Haverhill, Massachusetts. He grew up on the farm in a household with his parents, a brother and two sisters, a maternal aunt and paternal uncle, and a constant flow of visitors and hired hands for the farm. The house that he and his family resided in was originally built by the first Whittier, after coming to New England in 1683. This home, John Greenleaf Whittier's birthplace, is now called Amesbury home, and is open to the public as a tourist attraction. Beginning in 1814, he attended the district school during the short winter terms. In 1821, at school, he was first introduced to the poetry of Robert Burns by a teacher. After this, he began to write poetry on his own in his spare time.

In 1826, his sister sent a copy of his work, entitled The Exile’s Departure, which was an imitation of Walter Scott, to the Newburyport Free Press to be published. The editor at the time, William Lloyd Garrison, published the piece and liked it so much that he sought out the author to encourage him to get an education and develop his literary talents. Due to this encouragement, Whittier sent out many poems to local newspapers, which accepted more than eighty of them. The works of Scott and Lord Byron seem to have furnished the models for these fluent, “correct,” and often-florid verses that Whittier produced. However, Whittier was far from famous for his poetry. In fact, he supported himself by shoe-making and school teaching for two terms at Haverhill Academy. This also completed his formal education as well in 1829. Throughout this time in his life until 1832, he edited a number of newspapers, including Boston weekly newspaper, The American Manufacturer, and the Essex Gazette (Haverhill). While living at home at this less prestigious position at the Essex Gazette, his father died. He went on to edit the important New England Review in Hartford for around eighteen months.

Political aspirations
Even though Whittier enjoyed writing, he desired for a career in politics as well to better express his views, specifically as a member of the Abolitionist Movement. In 1833, he was elected to the state convention of the National Republican Party and unsuccessfully sought a position in office as a Whig. After the election, Garrison urged him to join the Anti-Slavery Party; he also became a delegate to the first meeting of the American Anti-Slavery Convention. At this point, Whittier wished to connect his two passions, and began placing Abolitionist verses into his writing. The result was, Justice and Expediency, a powerful anti-slavery tract.

In 1835, he was elected to the Massachusetts legislature, where he continued his work with Abolitionist pieces of legislature. He was still living on the farm, which he managed and oversaw, while editing the Haverhill Gazette (also from home). He eventually sold the house and farm, in 1836, moving along with his mother and sisters to the home which he would ultimately reside. During this time, he became actively involved in working for the Abolitionist cause in New York and Philadelphia. A collection of his Abolitionist verse, Poems Written during the Progress of the Abolition Question in the United States, appears in print.

Through his intensive involvement with the Abolitionist movement, he feuds and breaks with Garrison, specifically regarding the issue of Abolitionist tactics. Whittier then helped to found the Liberty party, which he hoped would find a wider political base than Garrison’s radical Abolitionism for the antislavery cause as a whole.

Whittier was an activist all his life, although there is no record of him ever speaking in meeting, and, unlike some others who were Orthodox, he found time to engage in politics and championed abolitionism. He was also no stranger for the price that voicing a desire for freedom cost him. Not only did he loose friends over the movement, but also, in 1838, a mob burned him out of his offices in the antislavery center of Pennsylvania Hall in Philadelphia. Such dangerous situations became a norm for Whittier, as he fought for the Abolitionist Movement for the rest of his life. Whittier also involved himself in the formation and foundation of the Republican Party in politics as well.

Later Life
Whittier was one of the founding contributors of the magazine Atlantic Monthly

One of his most enduring works, Snow-Bound, was first published in 1866. Whittier was surprised by its financial success, earning some $10,000 from the first edition.

In 1867, Whittier asked James Thomas Fields to get him a ticket to a reading by Charles Dickens during the British author's visit to the United States. After the event, he wrote a letter describing his experience:
 * My eyes ached all next day from the intensity of my gazing. I do not think his voice naturally particularly fine, but he uses it with great effect. He has wonderful dramatic power... I like him better than any public reader I have ever before heard.

Whittier spent the last few winters of his life, from 1876 to 1892, at Oak Knoll, the home of his cousins in Danvers, Massachusetts. Whittier died on September 7, 1892, at a friend's home in Hampton Falls, New Hampshire. He is buried in Amesbury, Massachusetts.

Writing
After his father’s death, Whittier published Legends of New England, his first book, which was a mixture of prose and verse. Later in life, he deprecated the work, and even refused to permit it to continue to be printed and placed into circulation, due to his embarrassment about the book. However, his poetry was somewhat more successful with himself. In 1838, he published the first authorized collection of his poetry, Poems while editing Pennsylvania Freeman. He continued to write and publish Abolitionist poetry throughout this period in his life.

During his withdrawal from the movement due to his failing health, Whittier began to show an interest in history, as he had in the beginnings of his poetry. The publication of Lays of My Home suggests such, the renewal of his early interest in regional and historic subjects for his verse. While working on other pieces, such as Voices of Freedom, Whittier edited the National Era, which served as the chief outlet for his poetry and prose for the next decade. After this, he continued to write and publish numerous poems, placing his name with that of other popular writers of his time. In the 1850s, he encouraged Sumner to run for office, after which, his poetic energies shifted from the political to the personal and legendary became more pronounced in his writings. Then, in 1857, he was assured, for the first time, of a wide reading public in the company of the period’s most respected authors in founding the Atlantic Monthly. The publication of Snow Bound in 1866, made Whittier famous in his own writing, not editing, making him still known today.

Recognition
Highly regarded in his lifetime and for a period thereafter, Whittier is now remembered largely for the patriotic poem, Barbara Frietchie, as well as for a number of poems turned into hymns, some of which remain exceedingly popular. Although clearly Victorian in style, and capable of being sentimental, his hymns exhibit both imagination and universality that set them beyond ordinary 19th-century hymnody. Best known is probably, Dear Lord and Father of Mankind, taken from his poem, "The Brewing of Soma."

His poem "Vesta" was included in the Oxford Book of English Verse 1250-1900.

A bridge named for Whittier, built in the style of the Sagamore and Bourne Bridges spanning Cape Cod Canal, carries Interstate 95 from Amesbury to Newburyport over the Merrimack River. The city of Whittier, California, the Minneapolis neighborhood of Whittier, and the town of Greenleaf, Idaho, were named in his honor. Both Whittier College and Whittier Law School are also named after him.

Whittier's hometown of Haverhill, Massachusetts, has named many buildings and landmarks in his honor including J.G. Whittier Middle School, Greenleaf Elementary, and Whittier Regional Vocational Technical High School. Whittier's family farm, John Greenleaf Whittier Homestead also called "Whittier's Birthplace" is now a historic site open to the public as is the John Greenleaf Whittier Home, his residence in Amesbury for 56 years.

Poetry

 * Moll Pitcher: A poem. Boston: Carter & Hendee, 1832.
 * The Song of the Vermonters, 1779 (anonymous). 1833; Windsor, VT: Bishop & Tracy, 1843; Montpelier, VT: Harry Stevens, 1846.
 * Hanover, NH: Pine Tree Press, 1956.
 * Mogg Megone: A poem. Boston: Light & Stearns, 1836.
 * Poems Written During the Progress of the Abolition Question in the United States: Between the years 1830-1838. Boston: Isaac Knapp, 1837 [1838]
 * Poems. Philadelphia: Joseph Healy / Boston: Weeks, Jordan, 1838.
 * Lays of My Home, and other poems. Boston: W.D. Ticknor, 1833.
 * Voices of Freedom. Philadelphia: Thomas S. Cavender / Boston: Waite, Pierce / New York: W. Harned, 1846.
 * Songs of Labor, and other poems. Boston, Ticknor, Reed, & Fields, 1850.
 * The Chapel of the Hermits, and other poemslink title. Boston, Ticknor, Reed, & Fields, 1853.
 * The Panorama, and other poems. Boston, Ticknor, Reed, & Fields, 1856.
 * The Poetical Works of John Greenleaf Whittier. Boston: Ticknor & Fields, 1857; London: Routledge, 1857.
 * Home Ballads, and poems. Boston: Ticknor & Fields, 1860.
 * In War Time, and other poems. Boston: Ticknor & Fields, 1864.
 * National Lyrics. Boston: Ticknor & Fields, 1865.
 * Snow-Bound: A winter idyl. Boston: Ticknor & Fields, 1866; London: Astolat, 1892.
 * (illustrated). Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1906.
 * Maud Muller'. Boston: Ticknor & Fields, 1867.
 * The Tent on the Beach, and other poems. Boston: Ticknor & Fields, 1867.
 * Among the Hills, and other poems. Boston: Fields, Osgood, 1869.
 * Ballads of New England. Boston: Fields, Osgood, 1870.
 * Miriam, and other poems. Boston: Fields, Osgood, 1871.
 * The Pennsylvania Pilgrim, and other poems. Boston: James R. Osgood, 1872.
 * Poems of John Greenleaf Whittier. new revised edition, Boston: Houghton, Osgood / Cambridge: Riverside Press, 1872.
 * The Complete Poetical Works of John Greenleaf Whittier. (2 volumes), Boston: J.R. Osgood, 1872; London: Macmillan, 1874.
 * Hazel-Blossoms. Boston: J.R. Osgood, 1875.
 * Mabel Martin: A harvest idyl. Boston: J.R. Osgood, 1876
 * Mabel Martin, and other poems. Boston & New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1884.
 * The Vision of Echard, and other poems. Boston: Houghton, Osgood, 1871.
 * The King's Missive, and other poems. Boston & New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1881.
 * The Bay of Seven Islands, and other poems. Boston & New York: Houghton Mifflin / Cambridge, MA: Riverside Press, 1883.
 * The Early Poems of John Greenleaf Whittier (biographical sketch by Nathan Haskell Dole). Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1885.
 * Poems of Nature (edited by Elbridge Kingsley). Boston & New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1886.
 * Saint Gregory's Quest, and recent poems. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1886.
 * Narrative and Legendary Poems. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1888.
 * Anti-Slavery Poems, and Songs of labor and reform. Boston & New York: Houghton Mifflin / Cambridge, MA: Riverside Press, 1888.
 * Legends and Lyrics from the Poetic Works of John Greenleaf Whittier. Boston & New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1890.
 * At Sundown, and other poems. Cambridge, MA; privately printed at the Riverside Press, 1890
 * (illustrated by E.H. Garrett). Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1893.
 * The Poetical Works of John Greenleaf Whittier. (4 volumes), Boston & New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1892-1894. ''Volume I, Volume II, Volume III, Volume IV
 * The Red River Voyageur, and other poems. Toronto: G.N. Morang, 1900.
 * Poems of Whittier (edited by Arthur Christopher Benson). London: T.C. & E.C. Jack, 1906.
 * Selections from the Poems of John Greenleaf Whittier. (2 parts), London: Routledge / New York: E.P. Dutton, 1912.
 * Selected Poems of John Greenleaf Whitier. London: Humphrey Milford / Oxford University Press, 1913.
 * John Greenleaf Whittier's Poetry: An appraisal and a selection (edited by Robert Penn Warren). Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press, 1971.
 * The Poetry of John Greenleaf Whittier: A reader's edition (edited by William Joliff). Richmond, IN: Friends United Press, 2000.
 * Selected Poems (edited by Brenda Wineapple). New York: Library of America, 2004.

Prose

 * Legends of New England: In prose and verse. Hartford, Ct: Hamner & Phelps, 1831
 * (introduction by John B. Pickard). Gainesville, FL: Scholars' Facsimiles & Reprints, 1965.
 * Justice and Expediency; or, Slavery considered with a view to its rightful and effectual remedy, abolition. New York: 1833; Haverhill, MA: C.P. Thayer, 1833.
 * The Supernaturalism of New England. New York & London: Wiley & Putnam, 1847
 * (edited by Edward Wagenknecht). Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 1969.
 * Literary Recreations and Miscellanies (1854)
 * Old Portraits and Modern Sketches. Boston: Ticknor, Read, & Fields, 1850.
 * Prose Works of John Greenleaf Whittier. (2 volumes), Boston: Ticknor & Fields, 1866. ''Volume II
 * (3 volumes), Boston: Houghton Mifflin / Cambridge, MA: Riverside Press, 1892. ''Volume II
 * Margaret Smith's Journal: Tales and sketches. Boston: Houghton Mifflin / Cambridge, MA: Riverside Press, 1888.
 * Whittier on Writers and Writing: The uncollected critical writings of John Greenleaf Whittier (edited by Edwin Harrison Cady & Harry Hayden Clark). Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 1950; Freeport, NY: Books for Libraries Press, 1971.

Edited

 * Child Life: A collection of poems. Boston & New York: Houghton Mifflin / Cambridge, MA: Riverside Press, 1871.
 * Child Life in Prose. Boston: J.R. Osgood, 1874.
 * Songs of Three Centuries. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1875.
 * Selections from 'Child Life in Poetry' and 'Child Life in Prose'. Boston & New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1894.

Collected edition

 * The Works of John Greenleaf Whittier (edited by Elizabeth H. Whittier). standard library edition. Boston & New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1892.
 * The Complete Writings of John Greenleaf Whittier. Amesbury edition, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1892. Cambridge edition, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1894.
 * Memorabilia of John Greenleaf Whittier (edited by John B. Pickard). Hartford, CT: Emerson Society, 1968.

Letters

 * Samuel Pickard, Life and Letters of John Greenleaf Whittier. (2 volumes), Boston & New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1894.
 * Whittier correspondence from the Oak Knoll collections, 1830-1892 (edited by John Albree). Salem, MA: Essex Book & Print Club, 1911.
 * Whittier's Unknown Romance: Letters to Elizabeth Lloyd (introduction by Marie V. Denervaud). Boston & New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1922.
 * Elizabeth Lloyd and the Whittiers: A budget of letters (edited by Thomas Franklin Currier). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1939.
 * The Letters of John Greenleaf Whittier (edited by John B. Pickard). Cambridge, MA, & London: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1975. Volume I: 1821-1845

Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.

Audio / video

 * Treasury of John Greenleaf Whittier (audiobook; read byDonald Hall). New Rochelle, NY: Spoken Arts, 1966.

Poems by John Greenleaf Whittier

 * Dear Lord and Father of Mankind