Henry Livingston, Jr.
1791 New-York Magazine; or Literary Repository



Should be considered again as possibly by Henry


Van Deusen-Kosinski Collection





New-York Magazine; or, Literary Repository
April, 1791, p.240

A Rebus
No attribution


THE power which retains the bright spheres in their orbs,
    And a planet well known to us all;
The towering mount where the Gods did convene,
    When summon'd by Jupiter's call.

A meteor produc'd by refraction of light,
    The country for orators fam'd;
The city where stood the magnificent pile
    Which Herostatus madly inflam'd.

A general, who fell at the siege of Quebec,
    And the ship that bold Jason convey'd;
A species of verse, by the ancients much us'd,
    First compos'd by the Lesbian maid.

An hero of Troy, for his valour renown'd;
    The isle where Ulysses had birth;
The patriarch who sail'd on the face of the deep
    When the waters had delug'd the earth.

The place where 'tis said that bright Phoebus stood still
    When the armies of Israel prevail'd,
And the straits where the valiant Leonidas fought
    When the forces of Persia assail'd.

The musician of old, who went down to the shades,
    And by music the furies restrain'd,
And the man, who new regions of science explor'd,
And the palm of philosophy gain'd.

The initials of these, if in order conjoin'd,
    The name of a HERO will give,
Whose virtues Columbian's will ever extoll,
    Whose praises for ever shall live.

New-York, April 16, 1791.



This was once thought by us to be by Henry, but was discarded, in part, because the solution to the rebus was signed N.H.W. But now that I own the 1791 volume, I've been able to go through the book in more detail and have discovered the April and May Notes to Correspondents which mentions that multiple solutions to the Rebus were submitted, and that the Editor chose one of each to print. Which means our assumption was wrong that the Rebus and its solution were by the same author.

And that means this poem should be in the running again as being possibly by Henry.

See also:
    Nine Sisters Rebus
    Queen of Love Rebus
    Deity Rebus
    Apollo Rebus
    Hero Rebus
    War Rebus
    Sages Rebus








        
NAVIGATION


Index of 1791 Volume

All Henry Livingston's Poetry,     All Clement Moore's Poetry     Historical Articles About Authorship

Illustrated 1823 Night Before Christmas

Many Ways to Read Henry Livingston's Poetry

Arguments,   Smoking Gun?,   Reindeer Names,   First Publication,   Early Variants  
Timeline Summary,   Witness Letters,   Quest to Prove Authorship,   Scholars,   Fiction  


   Book,   Slideshow,   Xmas,   Writing,   The Man,   Work,   Illos,   Music,   Genealogy,   Bios,   History,   Games  


Henry's Home


Mary's Home


IME logo Copyright © 2012, InterMedia Enterprises