Perhaps the iconic photograph of the man
(Wikimedia CC; public domain)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.\u201d<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\nAbraham Lincoln (assassinated just slightly more than 150 years ago)<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
We spent roughly three hours this morning in the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum in Springfield. \u00a0It\u2019s the second time we\u2019ve visited the museum; it wasn\u2019t yet built, I think, the first time that we came to town.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Let me simply say that, if you have even the slightest flicker of interest in Lincoln, the Civil War, or American history \u2014 or think that you might be capable<\/em> of having such an interest \u2014 you should visit this place. \u00a0It\u2019s wonderful. \u00a0Extremely well done, effortlessly informative, and, sometimes, deeply moving.<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
The remark of \u00a0Mr. Lincoln\u2019s that\u2019s quoted above is especially poignant given the difficulty of his life, which included the death of his little brother in infancy; the sudden loss of his mother when he was nine; a possibly abusive and often absentee father; the death of his young married sister in childbirth; the death of his first serious romantic interest, Ann Rutledge, at age twenty-two; the apparent emotional instability of his wife, Mary Todd; many serious political defeats; the death of his three-year-old\u00a0son Eddie in 1850, the death of his eleven-year-old\u00a0son Willie in 1862, while he was in the White House; the incredible pressures that faced him from even before his first inauguration; the enormous death toll of the American Civil War, which many blamed on him; and his assassination in 1865. \u00a0(His son Tad died at eighteen, but six years after Mr. Lincoln\u2019s own death. \u00a0Only Robert Todd Lincoln, Abraham and Mary\u2019s firstborn son, outlived both parents; only Robert\u00a0lived into his own old age.)<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
A week after Eddie\u2019s death, Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln published a poem in the Illinois State Journal<\/em>, entitled \u201cLittle Eddie\u201d:<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
Those midnight stars are sadly dimmed,<\/span>
That late so brilliantly shone,<\/span>
And the crimson tinge from cheek and lip,<\/span>
With the heart\u2019s warm life has flown \u2013<\/span>
The angel of Death was hovering nigh,<\/span>
And the lovely boy was called to die.<\/span>
The silken waves of his glossy hair<\/span>
Lie still over his marble brow,<\/span>
And the pallid lip and pearly cheek<\/span>
The presence of Death avow.<\/span>
Pure little bud in kindness given,<\/span>
In mercy taken to bloom in heaven.<\/span>
Happier far is the angel child<\/span>
With the harp and the crown of gold,<\/span>
Who warbles now at the Savior\u2019s feet<\/span>
The glories to us untold.<\/span>
Eddie, meet blossom of heavenly love,<\/span>
Dwells in the spirit-world above.<\/span>
Angel Boy \u2013 fare thee well, farewell<\/span>
Sweet Eddie, We bid thee adieu!<\/span>
Affection\u2019s wail cannot reach thee now<\/span>
Deep though it be, and true.<\/span>
Bright is the home to him now given<\/span>
For \u201cof such is the Kingdom of Heaven.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
I\u2019m very fond of Edgar Lee Masters\u2019s Spoon River Anthology<\/em>. \u00a0One of those poems is entitled \u201cAnn Rutledge,\u201d after the tragically short-lived young woman who \u2014 though some have sought to dispute the story \u2014 seems to have been Abraham Lincoln\u2019s first love:<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n
Out of me unworthy and unknown
\nThe vibrations of deathless music:
\n\u201cWith malice toward none, with charity toward all.\u201d
\nOut of me the forgiveness of millions toward millions,
\nAnd the beneficent face of a nation
\nShining with justice and truth.
\nI am Ann Rutledge who sleeps beneath these weeds,
\nBeloved in life of Abraham Lincoln,
\nWedded to him, not through union,
\nBut through separation.
\nBloom forever, O Republic,
\nFrom the dust of my bosom!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
That poem is now engraved on her tombstone in the Oakland Cemetery at Petersburg, Illinois, where my wife and I paid our respects a number of years ago.\u00a0(We passed not too far from Petersburg earlier today, but just didn\u2019t have time.)<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
On a very different note: \u00a0This evening, we enjoyed a Mexican dinner in Hamilton, Illinois, with Susan Easton Black and her husband, George Durrant. \u00a0What a beautiful drive along the eastern bank of the Mississippi at sunset!<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
See? \u00a0It\u2019s not all<\/em> melancholy around here.<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
Posted from Nauvoo, Illinois<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u201cWe can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.\u201d Abraham Lincoln (assassinated just slightly more than 150 years ago) \u00a0 We spent roughly three hours this morning in the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum in Springfield. \u00a0It\u2019s the second time we\u2019ve visited the museum; it wasn\u2019t yet built, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26534","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
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<\/a>