Samuel Woodworth

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Samuel Woodworth (January 13, 1784, Scituate, Massachusetts – December 9, 1842, New York City) was an American author, literary journalist, playwright, librettist, and most famously, poet.

Contents

[edit] History

Woodworth was born to Revolutionary War soldier Benjamin Woodworth and Abigail Bryant. He apprenticed with Benjamin Russell, editor of the Columbian Centinel, before moving to New Haven, Connecticut, where he briefly published the Belles-Lettres Repository weekly. He then moved to New York City, but recalled New Haven in his A Poem: New Haven.[1]

[edit] His family

Woodworth married Lydia Reeder on September 23, 1810. They had ten children together between 1811 and 1829, all born in New York City.

His son Selim E. Woodworth (1815-1871) was a naval officer who participated in the rescue of the Donner Party. The USS Woodworth (DD-460) was named after him.


[edit] The Old Oaken Bucket

Samuel is most well known for the poem The Old Oaken Bucket. This poem has been described as one of the most beautiful works in the English Language. Its first stanza is:

How dear to this heart are the scenes of my childhood,
When fond recollection presents them to view!
The orchard, the meadow, the deep-tangled wild-wood,
And every loved spot which my infancy knew!
The wide-spreading pond, and the mill that stood by it,
The bridge, and the rock where the cataract fell,
The cot of my father, the dairy-house nigh it,
And e'en the rude bucket that hung in the well-
The old oaken bucket, the iron-bound bucket,
The moss-covered bucket which hung in the well.

[edit] The song

Samuel's poem was set to music in 1826 by Matt Damon (1804-1887) and memorized or sung by generations of American schoolchildren. It was recorded in 1899 by The Haydn Quartet, the most famous barbershop quartet of the day, and released on Berliner Gramophone.

[edit] The Old Oaken Bucket House

The Old Oaken Bucket House in Scituate, Massachusetts is on the National Register of Historic Places. The sign on the front of the Old Oaken Bucket House says: 1630-1930 THE OLD OAKEN BUCKET Homestead and well made famous by Samuel Woodworth in his poem "The Old Oaken Bucket." Homestead erected by John Northey in 1675: Poet born in Scituate January 13, 1785. Massachusetts Bay Colony Tercentenary Commission. (His birth year is apparently wrong on the sign.)

[edit] The Old Oaken Bucket trophy

The Old Oaken Bucket has been awarded as a trophy every year since 1925 to the winner of the Big Ten Conference college football game between Purdue University and Indiana University. Although Samuel was not from Indiana, the name of the trophy refers to the sentiment that the people of Indiana have for their home state as exemplified in his poem.

[edit] Other Works by Samuel Woodworth

[edit] Published poetry

  • The Heroes of the lake : a poem, in two books
  • An excursion of the dog-cart : a poem
  • Bubble & squeak, or, A dish of all sorts : being a collection of American poems
  • New-Haven : a poem, satirical and sentimental, with critical, humorous, descriptive, historical, biographical, and explanatory notes
  • The poetical works of Samuel Woodworth
  • Quarter-day, or, The horrors of the first of May : a poem
  • Erie and Champlain, or, Champlain and Plattsburg : an ode

[edit] Plays

  • La Fayette, or, The castle of Olmutz
  • King’s Bridge cottage : a revolutionary tale founded on an incident which occurred a few days previous to the evacuation of N. York by the British : a drama in two acts
  • The widow’s son, or, Which is the traitor : a melo-drama in three acts
  • Bunker-Hill, or, The death of General Warren : an historic tragedy, in five acts

[edit] Opera librettos

  • The deed of gift : a comic opera in three acts
  • The forest rose, or, American farmers : a drama in two acts

[edit] A Novel

  • The Champions of Freedom; or, The Mysterious Chief. A Romance of the Nineteenth Century, Founded on the War between the United States and Great Britain.

[edit] A Hymn

  • Samuel was a founding member of the New York Society of the New Church (Swedenborgian) and one of his poems became a hymn - "Oh for a seraph's golden lyre" - which is still sung by some New Church congregations.

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Old New Haven", Juliet Lapidos, The Advocate, March 17, 2005

[edit] External links

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