The Poetry of Major Henry Livingston, Jr.

Without distinction, fame, or note
Upon the tide of life I float,
A bubble almost lost to sight
As cobweb frail, as vapor light;
And yet within that bubble lies
A spark of life which never dies.¹

PAGE THROUGH WHAT YOU LIKE BEST
PAGE LINK	TYPE OF POETRY
	THE CHRISTMAS POEM
	FUNNY POETRY
	LOVE POETRY
	MORAL FABLE POETRY
	RELIGIOUS/INSPIRING POETRY
	FAMILY POETRY
	MUCH OF HIS POETRY

It is highly likely that many Carrier Addresses, that are not on the list below, were also written by Henry.

SHORT TITLE	PUBLISHED	MSS	DATE	FIRST LINE
On my little Catherine sleeping	.	YES	7 Sep 1775	"Sweet Innocent lye still & sleep,"
Easter	.	YES	11 Apr 1784	"WHEN JESUS bow'd his awful head"
Job	.	YES	1776	"'TWAS night. And thickest gloom prevail'd around."
Invitation to the Country	.	YES	.	"The winter all surly is flown,"
Nine Sisters Rebus	.	YES	.	"Take the name of nine sisters that romp on Parnassus,"
Habakkuk, 3rd chapter, verses 17 & 18	.	YES	.	"THO frosts destroy, or blasts invade,"
Isaiah, LXV chap. 25th verse	.	YES	.	"In that ecstatic, joyous day,"
Lo From the East	.	YES	.	"Lo from the East the sun appears"
Montgomery Tappan (death of 1st cousin)	.	YES	20 Nov 1784	"The sweetest, gentlest, of the youthful train,"
Sarah Livingston (death of wife)	.	YES	.	"BEYOND where billows roll or tempests vex"
Henry Welles Livingston (death of son)	.	YES	.	"A gentle spirit now above"
Queen of Love Rebus	.	YES	.	"FAIRER than the queen of love,"
Deity Rebus	Anonymous AM	YES	.	"Take the name of the Deity lovers obey"
Joanna's 33rd Birthday	.	YES	16 May 1787	"On this thy natal day permit a friend - A brother -"
On ... Fragment	.	YES	.	"Thy lips surpass the Ruby's glow"
Sally Livingston (death of a wren)	.	YES	.	"Hasty pilgrim stop thy pace"
Settlement Invitation	.	YES	.	"YES, yes my swain, thy faithful wife's prepar'd"
Apollo Rebus	.	YES	1785	"The mount where old Homer has station'd Apollo"
Timmy (son of Yale Pres. Dwight)	R CJPA	YES	7 Dec 1785	"Master Timmy brisk and airy"
The Dance (Nancy Crooke)	.	YES	1786	"Take the name of the swain, a forlorn witless elf"
A Valentine	.	YES	14 Feb 1786	"WELLCOME, wellcome, happy day,"
Gentleman Leaving Pakepsy	.	YES	1786	"In summer the aerial musicians around"
Hero Rebus	.	YES	1786	"That hero whose great and magnanimous mind"
Beekman	.	YES	1786	"To my dear brother Beekman I sit down to write"
Vine and Oak (love poem)	Banks of the Hudson NYMLR	YES	~1786	"A vine from noblest lineage sprung"
Spadille	.	YES	~1786	"Thou little four-leg'd paltry varlet,"
War Rebus	.	YES	1786	"Take the name of that hero who dreadful in war"
Sages Rebus	.	YES	1786	"Take the name of that planet which sages declare"
Gilbert Cortlandt (death of 1st cousin)	R CJPA	.	6 Dec 1786	"BEYOND where billows roll or tempests vex"
Carrier Address 1787	Richard and George PB	YES	Dec 1786	"BEFORE the friends of Mr. Power"
Anne	.	YES	1787	"To his charming black-ey'd niece"
Acknowledgment	Anonymous CJPA	YES	1787	"With the ladies' permission most humbly I'd mention"
Mistress Van Kleeck	.	YES	9 Jan 1787	"My very good landlady, Mistress Van Kleeck,"
Parody on the "Death of Wolfe"	R CJPA	YES	bef 30 May 1787	"In a mouldering cave where the wretched retreat"
Marriage Tax	R CJPA	.	pub 4 Apr 1787	"With tears in my eyes I the other day saw"
The Fly	R CJPA	YES	.	"As on a summer's fervid day"
Careless Philosopher's Soliloquy	R CJPA	YES	1787	"I rise when I please, when I please I lie down"
Belle	.	YES	.	"If ever 'twas proper and lawful and decent"
Frontier Song	Anonymous NYMLR R CJPA	YES	.	"Let statesmen tread their giddy round"
Alcmena Rebus	.	YES	.	"The son of Alcmena, the champion of fable,"
Rispah	.	YES	.	"FROM morn to eve from eve to rosy morn"
The Writing of Hezekiah	.	NO	15 Apr 1788	"WHEN blooming health and chearful days"
To Miss	.	YES	1789	"Hail! pride of each lass & the wish of each swain"
Procession Need pub	CJPA	YES	1789	"The legislators pass along"
To Miss	R NYMLR	YES	.	"Sweet as op'ning roses are,"
Epithalamium (marriage of sister Helena)	Anonymous NYMLR	YES	June 1790	"'Twas summer, when softly the breezes were blowing,"
Monarchs Rebus	.	YES	.	"The wisest of monarchs yet weakest of men,"
City Rebus	A Reader CJPA	.	1 Jan 1791	"THE city once rul'd by Solon the sage,"
Song. - Tune, German Spa	R NYMLR	.	bef Mar 1791	"Shrew'd remarkers often say"
The Hiding-Place Need pub	R NYWM	.	bef 8 Oct 1791	"Hail sov'reign love that first began" This poem was written by Rev. Jehoida Brewer (1752-1817), and published in the Gospel Magazine in October of 1776. The small differences might imply that Henry knew the poem from hearing it, rather than from reading it.
Spheres Rebus	New York NYMLR	NO	1791	"THE power which retains the bright spheres in their orbs,"
New-York Rebus	A.B.; New York NYMLR	NO	1791	"TAKE a city once founded on Victory's field,"
Arabella	R NYMLR	.	bef Feb 1793	"Blooming as the youthful May,"
Past is the Hour	R NYWM	.	6 Aug 1794	"PAST is the hour, forever flown,"
ACROSTIC	R NYWM	.	9 Oct 1794	"M UCH I admire, thou loveliest of the fair,"
ACROSTIC On Eliza Hughes	R CJPA	.	12 Sep 1798	"E v'ry grace in her combine,"
On the New-Year	Anonymous NYWM	.	2 Jan 1802	LO from the east the sun appears"
To the Ladies	R NYWM	.	1 Sep 1802	"Our lovely belles, whose tresses fair"
Carriers' Address, 1803	Anonymous PB	.	1 Jan 1803	"All hail to the season so jovial and gay"
Catharine Livingston Breese	CJPA	.	31 Aug 1808	"Her little bark on Life's wide Ocean tossed,"
Catharine Breese Livingston	Tombstone	.	13 Sep 1814	"I fondly nursed an opening rose,"
Hope Need pub	R LM	.	13 Dec. 1817	"Amid the varying scenes of life,"
Carriers' Address, 1819	Frederick T. Parsons PB	.	1 Jan 1819	"TIME, with his pinions broad and strong"
Adventures of an American Eagle	R CJPA	NO	Mar 20 1822	"A Capac rose, a Capac fell"
Original Poems	R CJPA	NO	Aft Sep 1825	"The frogs of calm & quiet x"
A Fable	.	YES	Apr 1827	"When time was young the story goes"
Scots Wha Hae Wie Wallace Bled	.	YES	1827	"In arts and arms Escotia stands"
Crane and Fox	.	YES	19 Feb 1827	"In long gone years a fox and crane"
Midas	.	YES	1827	"The miser Midas to his store"
God is Love	.	YES	1827	"I love my feeble voice to raise"
Dialogue	.	YES	aft 1800	"Pray dearest mother if you please"
Without Distinction	.	YES	.	"Without distinction, fame, or note"

AM	American Magazine
CJPA	Country Journal and Poughkeepsie Advertiser [Poughkeepsie Journal]
NYMLR	New-York Magazine; or, Literary Repository
NYWM	New-York Weekly Museum
PB	Political Barometer

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