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Literary
July 25, 1906
The Barre Daily Times
Barre, Washington County, Vermont
What is this article about?
The highest price for poetry was $1.875 per line, paid posthumously: $15,000 for an eight-line doggerel by James Smith flattering infirm but brilliant printer Strachan, who added it to his will after a dinner meeting.
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Full Text
Poetry at $1.875 a Line.
The highest price ever paid for poetry was $1.875 a line, $15,000 for an eight line poem. It was not a good poem either. James Smith, one of the authors of "Rejected Addresses," wrote it. Smith met one night at dinner in London Strachan the famous English printer. Strachan, what with old age and gout, was most infirm. Indeed, he could hardly walk. But his mind was exceedingly powerful and brilliant, and he talked so well that Smith on his return home wrote the following doggerel about the old man:
Your lower limbs seemed far from stout
When last I saw you walk;
The cause I presently found out
When you began to talk.
The power that props the body's strength
In due proportion spread
In you mounts upward, and the strength
All settles in the head.
Though this was undoubtedly rank poetry and ranker flattery, it pleased Printer Strachan so well that he added to his will a codicil giving Smith $15,000.
The highest price ever paid for poetry was $1.875 a line, $15,000 for an eight line poem. It was not a good poem either. James Smith, one of the authors of "Rejected Addresses," wrote it. Smith met one night at dinner in London Strachan the famous English printer. Strachan, what with old age and gout, was most infirm. Indeed, he could hardly walk. But his mind was exceedingly powerful and brilliant, and he talked so well that Smith on his return home wrote the following doggerel about the old man:
Your lower limbs seemed far from stout
When last I saw you walk;
The cause I presently found out
When you began to talk.
The power that props the body's strength
In due proportion spread
In you mounts upward, and the strength
All settles in the head.
Though this was undoubtedly rank poetry and ranker flattery, it pleased Printer Strachan so well that he added to his will a codicil giving Smith $15,000.
What sub-type of article is it?
Essay
Poem
Satire
What themes does it cover?
Commerce Trade
Moral Virtue
What keywords are associated?
Poetry Pricing
James Smith
Strachan
Doggerel
Flattery
Legacy
Will
Literary Details
Title
Poetry At $1.875 A Line.
Subject
Highest Price Paid For Poetry; Anecdote Of James Smith And Strachan
Form / Style
Anecdotal Prose With Embedded Doggerel Verse
Key Lines
Your Lower Limbs Seemed Far From Stout
When Last I Saw You Walk;
The Cause I Presently Found Out
When You Began To Talk.
The Power That Props The Body's Strength
In Due Proportion Spread
In You Mounts Upward, And The Strength
All Settles In The Head.