PENNSYLVANIA  is  far  more  famous  for  coal
and  iron  than  for  poetry,  for  out  of  the  hun
dred  and  sixty  or  seventy  poets  who  figure  in  the  last
edition  of  Dr.  Griswold's  "Poets  and  Poetry  of  Amer
ica  "  only  twelve  were  born  in  that  State.  But  among
these  was  Joseph  Hopkinson,  who  wrote  our  national
anthem,  "  Hail  Columbia."  Then  came  George  P.
Morris,  who  wrote  "Woodman,  spare  that  tree,"
and  other  songs  which  Dr.  Griswold  thought  nearly
faultless.  Then  came  Robert  T.  Conrad,  commonly
called  Judge  Conrad,  who  wrote  a  play  about  Jack
Cade,  for  Edwin  Forrest.  Then  Henry  B.  Hirst,
who  wrote  a  poem  about  Endymion,  and  Mr.  Thomas
Dunn  English,  who  wrote  the  pretty  song  of  "  Ben
Bolt."  These,  and  three  lesser  writers  whom  I  need
not  name,  bring  us  down  to  about  fifty-five  years  ago,
when  real  poets  began  to  appear  in  Pennsylvania,  —

101


io2  Poets'  Homes.
for  Hopkinson  and  Morris  and  Conrad  were  not
poets,  but  clever  writers  of  verse.  Four  came  within
four  years,  one  in  each  succeeding  year,  —  Thomas
Buchanan  Read  in  1822,  George  H.  Boker  in  1823,
Charles  G.  Leland  in  1824,  and  Bayard  Taylor  in
1825.  Two  were  born  in  Philadelphia,  and  two  in
Chester  county.  The  last  two  were  Buchanan  Read
and  Bayard  Taylor.
