Will Carleton

William McKendree Carleton (October 21 1845 – December 18, 1912) was an American poet, who wrote mostly about rural life. [http://www.hillsdalecounty.info/history0053.asp Will Carleton The Poet and the Poem Over the Hill to the Poor House ] ]

Early years

Born on October 21, 1845, in rural Lenawee County, Hudson, Michigan, Will Carleton was the fifth child and third son of John Hancock and Celeste (Smith) Carleton. [http://www.absolutemichigan.com/dig/media/technology-internet-media/converse-with-the-slain-will-carletons-visit-to-arlington-national-cemetery/ » Converse With The Slain: Will Carleton's Visit to Arlington National Cemetery » Absolute Michigan ] ] In 1869, he graduated from Hillsdale College and delivered on that occasion the poem, "Rifts in the Cloud". [http://www.2020site.org/poetry/wc.html Biography and poetry of Will Carleton { William ), author of Three links and a life/title> ] ]

Biography

After graduating from college in 1869, Will Carleton first worked as a newspaper journalist in Hillsdale. He had been in the habit of writing poetry as a youngster. His first significant work published was "Betsy and I Are Out", a poignant tale of a divorce which was first published in the "Toledo Blade", but then reprinted by "Harper’s Weekly". "Betsy and I Are Out" was written in 1871 when Carleton was only twenty-five and employed as editor of the "Detroit Weekly Tribune". This poem was soon followed in 1872 by "Over the Hill to the Poor House" developing the plight of the aged and those with indifferent families. This piece captured national attention and catapulted Carleton into literary prominence —a position he was to hold the rest of his life as he continued to write and to lecture from coast to coast".

In 1878, Carleton moved to Boston, where he married Anne Goodell, and they moved to New York City in 1882. Carleton remained active in his college fraternity and served as the New York City Delta Tau Delta alumni chapter's president. [http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?_r=1&res=9F0DE5DA1030E433A2575BC2A9659C94649FD7CF&oref=slogin] In 1907, he returned to Hudson as a renowned poet. Carleton's quotes are also well known throughout America. [ [http://thinkexist.com/quotes/will_carleton/ Will Carleton quotes ] ] [ [http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/w/will_carleton.html Will Carleton Quotes ] ] With the "Public Act 51 of 1919", the Michigan legislature passed into law making it a duty upon teachers to teach at least one of his poems to children in school, and October 21st was officially named as "Will Carleton Day" in Michigan.. [ [http://www.firstscience.com/home/poems-and-quotes/authors/carleton-will-1845-1912_373.html FirstScience - Carleton, Will (1845-1912) ] ] Furthermore, a school in Hillsdale has been named after him, "Will Carleton Academy". [ [http://michigan.schooltree.org/district/Will-Carleton-Academy-006510.html Will Carleton Academy in Hillsdale, Michigan/MI - School Tree ] ] On top of that, a section of the M-99 in Hillsdale is dubbed Will Carleton Road.

On June 24, 2007, it was reported that "the neglected burial plot of the family of rural Michigan poet, Will Carleton, whose 1872 work, "Over the Hill to the Poor House", thrust him into national prominence, is getting a makeover". [http://www.mlive.com/newsflash/michigan/index.ssf?/base/news-45/118272602851150.xml&storylist=newsmichigan]

His works

"What Robert Burns did for the Scottish cotter and the Reverend William Barnes has done for the English farmer, Will Carleton has done for the American-touched with the glamour of poetry the simple and monotonous events of daily life, and shown that all circumstances of life, however trivial they may appear, possess those alternations of the comic and pathetic, the good and bad, the joyful and sorrowful, which go to make up the days and nights, the summers and winters, of this perplexing world".

* "Rifts in the Cloud" (1869)
* "Poems" (1871) [ [http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=moa;idno=ABE9340.0001.001 Making of America Books ] ]
* "Betsy and I Are Out" (1871) [ [http://www.hillsdalecounty.info/history0041.asp The Will Carleton Poor House ] ]
* "Over the Hill to the Poorhouse" (1872)
* " [http://texashistory.unt.edu/permalink/meta-pth-29405:1 Farm Ballads] " (1873) [gutenberg|no=9500|name=Farm Ballads by Will Carleton]
* "Farm Legends" (1875) [http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/people/A0810448.html Will Carleton — Infoplease.com ] at www.infoplease.com]
* "Young Folks' Centennial Rhymes" (1876)
* "Our Travelled Parson" (1879) [ [http://www.harpers.org/archive/1879/02/0046637 "Our travelled parson" by Will Carleton (Harper's Magazine) ] ]
* "Farm Festivals" (1881)
* "The First Settler's Story" (1881) [ [http://www.harpers.org/archive/1881/06/0033712 "The first settler's story" by Will Carleton (Harper's Magazine) ] ]
* "Her Tour" (1882) [ [http://www.harpers.org/archive/1882/11/0034115 "Her tour" by Will Carleton (Harper's Magazine) ] ]
* "The Old Reading Class" (1883) [ [http://www.harpers.org/archive/1883/09/0034366 "The old reading class" by Will Carleton (Harper's Magazine) ] ]
* "The Hero Of the Tower" (1884) [ [http://www.harpers.org/archive/1884/09/0034614 "The hero of the tower" by Will Carleton (Harper's Magazine) ] ]
* "City Ballads" (1885)
* "The Convict's Christmas Eve" (1887) [ [http://www.harpers.org/archive/1887/12/0035347 "The convict's Christmas Eve" by Will Carleton (Harper's Magazine) ] ]
* "An Ancient Spell" (1887) [ [http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=moa;idno=ABK0929.0001.001 Making of America Books ] ]
* "City Festivals" (1892) [ [http://www.antiqbook.com/boox/res/012744.shtml City Festivals - CARLETON, WILL ] ]
* "The Vestal Virgin" (1893) [ [http://www.harpers.org/archive/1893/07/0037163 "The vestal virgin" by Will Carleton (Harper's Magazine) ] ]
* "Four Dogs" (1894) [ [http://www.harpers.org/archive/1894/02/0066367 "Four dogs" by Will Carleton (Harper's Magazine) ] ]
* "Rhymes of Our Planet" (1895) [ [http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=moa;idno=ABE9344.0001.001 Making of America Books ] ]
* "The Lianhan Shee" (1900) [http://www.pos1.info/l/lianshee.htm]
* "Out of the Old House, Nancy" (1900) [ [http://www.bartleby.com/248/964.html 964. Out of the Old House, Nancy by Will Carleton. Stedman, Edmund Clarence, ed. 1900. An American Anthology, 1787-1900 ] ]
* "Songs of Two Centuries" (1902) [ [http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=moa;idno=ACR4411.0001.001 Making of America Books ] ]
* "The Little Black-Eyed Rebel" (1906) [ [http://www.poetry-archive.com/c/the_little_black_eyed_rebel.html The Little Black-Eyed Rebel, by Will Carleton ] ]
* "A Thousand Thoughts with Index of Subjects" (1908)

ources

* [http://www.authorandbookinfo.com/cgi-bin/auth.pl?C000978 Author and Book Info.com]

References

External links

* [http://hillsdale.net/stories/012905/new_bio.shtml 2005 Will Carleton Biography]
* [http://www.factmonster.com/ce6/people/A0810448.html Factmonster.com about Will Carleton]
* [http://www.michigan.gov/hal/0,1607,7-160-17451_18670_18793-53224--,00.html Map and photo]
* [http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/w/will_carleton.html Will Carleton Quotes]
* gutenberg author

Persondata
NAME=Carleton, Will
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=William McKendree Carleton
SHORT DESCRIPTION=poet.
DATE OF BIRTH=October 21, 1845
PLACE OF BIRTH=Hudson, Michigan
DATE OF DEATH=1912
PLACE OF DEATH=