Forgotten Voices: Early Poets of Jefferson County

By Ellerslie Books

Forgotten Voices collects examples of the most beautiful and profound poetry from writers who were born, grew up, and lived in Jefferson County in the 19th and very early 20th centuries. Topics range from the pastoral picturesqueness of the area, to the wonders of nature, to the heartache of loss.

Readers will discover poems by

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ellerslie Books
• Release date: Apr 4, 2023
• ISBN: 9781088102770

Book preview

John Kearsley Mitchell

John Kearsley Mitchell (1798-1858) was born in Shepherdstown, but left the United States for Scotland after he became an orphan.  He settled with his father's family and was educated at Ayr Academy and the University of Edinburgh.  He returned to the United States and studied medicine, graduating from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in 1819.  He traveled to Eastern Asia several times as a ship's surgeon, before accepting a position at the Philadelphia Medical Institute as professor of medicine and physiology.  Mitchell then taught chemistry at the Franklin Institute, before arriving at Jefferson Medical College in 1841 to teach medicine.  In 1827 he was elected to the American Philosophical Society.  His only published collection of poetry is called Indecision, a Tale of the Far West and Other Poems.  He also released several scientific books and published articles on medicine and anatomy.

The Whither'd Rose Bud

John Kearsley Mitchell

Ah why does this rose bud more beautiful seem,

      Than when gracing the stem where it grew;

All wither'd and pale, of a flower but the dream?

      'Tis because it was given by you,--

'Tis because the sweet flowret had linger'd awhile

      On the bosom of beauty and youth,

Had borrow'd her lustre, had stolen her smile,

      And came to me breathing her truth.

And now, though its leaflets are gone to decay,

      And mournfully drooping its stem,

And tints from the rainbow are fading away,

      'Twill still be of roses the gem.

Like its fragrance, still lingering, fond memory, the while,

      Will couple this blossom with thee,

And soothe by recalling the look and the smile

      That came with the rose-bud to me.

Infidelity

John Kearsley Mitchell

The fiend that comes with stealthy pace,

      To filch our hopes away,

To snatch from human misery

      Its comfort and its stay:

That strikes away the last fond hope,

      On which the spirit leans,

The only gem the dying heart

      From earthly brilliants gleans.

On the Death of a Pious Friend

John Kearsley Mitchell

If friends must leave us for the tomb,

      And make our hearts all lonely here,

It is a sunbeam 'mid the gloom,

      To shed alone affection's tear;

To weep, in hope, for those who die,

      The tear of temper'd grief to shed,

To see the grave reflect the sky,

      And view the angel, in the dead.

Let fond remembrance only mourn

      Sweet images of goodness tried,

Of passions quell'd,