Francis Bret Harte (August 25, 1837 – May 6, 1902) was an American author and poet, best remembered for his accounts of pioneering life in California. Born in Albany, New York, Harte moved to California in 1853, later working there in a number of capacities, including miner, teacher, messenger, and journalist. He spent part of his life in the northern California coast town now known as Arcata, then just a mining camp on Humboldt Bay. His first literary efforts, including poetry and prose, appeared in The Californian, an early literary journal edited by Charles Henry Webb. In 1868 he became editor of The Overland Monthly, another new literary magazine, but this one more in tune with the pioneering spirit of excitement in California. His story, "The Luck of Roaring Camp," appeared in the magazine's second edition, propelling Harte to nationwide fame. When word of Dickens' death reached Bret Harte in July of 1870, he immediately sent a dispatch across the bay to San Francisco to hold back the forthcoming publication of his Overland Monthly for twenty-four hours, so that he could compose the poetic tribute, Dickens in Camp. This work is considered by many of Harte's admirers as his masterpiece of verse, for its evident sincerity, the depth of feeling it displays, and the unusual quality of its poetic expression.
what the bullet sang
O Joy of creation,
To be!
O rapture, to fly
And be free!
Be the battle l...[read poem]
 |
|
|
|
|
 | ||||
To be!
O rapture, to fly
And be free!
Be the battle l...
Continue in Tadeusz Ròzewicz »»»
Page 1 of 1