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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About Henry,   Timeline,   At Locust Grove,   Sources,   Slideshow  


Xmas,   Games,   The Man,   Writing,   History,   The Work,   Illustrations,   Music,   Genealogy,   Biographies,   Locust Grove


Henry's Home


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