Timmy
A Mouse in Henry Livingston's House
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Four years after Sally's death, Henry was finally recovering. 1787 saw a large number of his poems. One was a poem for Rev. Timothy Dwight's son Timmy. It's a sparkling piece that is extremely unusual for a birthday poem because it offers wishes a child would want, rather than those that an adult would usually wish for a child.

Never may thy cricket ball,
In a well or puddle fall.

Thirty-nine years before the publication of "An Account of a Visit From St. Nicholas",

twenty-eight years before the birth of Clement Clarke Moore's first child,
        Henry was already rhyming jelly with belly!

The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,
And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath.
He had a broad face, and a little round belly
That shook when he laugh'd, like a bowl full of jelly





Chapter 3:   0,   1,   2,   3,   4,   5,   6,   7,   8,   9,   10,   11,   12,   13

Slideshow Index,
Introduction,   Ch1: Mouse,   Ch2: Sarah,   Ch3: After Sarah,   Ch4: Locust Grove,   Ch5: Know,  
Ch6: Dunder,   Ch7: War,   Ch8: Unexpected,   Ch9: Economy,   Ch10: Dutch,  
Ch11: Politics,   Ch12: Religion,   Ch13: Work,   Ch14: Myths,   Ch15: Happy Xmas,   Epilog





        
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Slideshow Index

All Henry Livingston's Poetry,     All Clement Moore's Poetry     Historical Articles About Authorship

Many Ways to Read Henry Livingston's Poetry

Arguments,   Smoking Gun?,   Reindeer Names,   First Publication,   Early Variants  
Timeline Summary,   Witness Letters,   Quest to Prove Authorship,   Scholars,   Fiction  


   Book,   Slideshow,   Xmas,   Writing,   The Man,   Work,   Illos,   Music,   Genealogy,   Bios,   History,   Games  


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