Poetry

Horatio Alger, Jr. is best known for his many young adult novels, written in the 19th century. These were mostly about impoverished boys (newsboys, shoe shine boys, farm boys, etc.) trying to move into the "respectable" middle class.

But Alger also wrote countless poems, and some of them pre-date his novels.

Alger's interest in poetry

Alger attended Harvard University (then Harvard College), graduating Phi Beta Kapp in 1852. He was eighth in a class of 88. He was chosen Class Odist (a poet who writes odes).

Wikipedia will tell you: "He began reading Walter Scott, James Fenimore Cooper, Herman Melville, and other modern writers of fiction and cultivated a lifelong love for Longfellow, whose verse he sometimes employed as a model for his own."

Alger's first published poems

As nearly as we can determine, Horatio Alger's first published poems were:

Death of Little Alice ... March 26, 1853.

A Chant of Life ... April 11, 1853.

The Cottage by the Sea ... May 7, 1853.

A Welcome to May ... May 1853.

His first book, "Bertha's Christmas Vision: An Autumn Sheaf," is a collection of short prose pieces. It was published in 1856. However, his second book, "Nothing to Do: A Tilt at Our Best Society," is a lengthy satirical poem. It was published in 1857 as an affectionate response to "Nothing to Wear," by William A. Butler.

Alger's first novel, "Marie Bertrand: The Felon's Daughter," doesn't appear until 1864, when it was serialized in New York Weekly. His first boys' book, "Frank's Campaign," was published by A. K. Loring in Boston the same year.

Credits

This compilation was done by Robert Eastlack (PF-557).

Caveat/Disclaimer

The following is meant to be an aid, not an authoritative guide, as we are always making new discoveries and corrections! The Horatio Alger Society is not responsible for any mistakes made because of the information provided below.

The Poems

Each of the poems contains a listing of known instances of publishing. But Alger was reprinted many times in many places, so the listings are not exhaustive.

The poems are all in PDF format. To see them, make sure you have downloaded Adobe Reader, available here: Aodobe Reader. Note: be careful to deselect various offered options (McAfee Security Scan Plus and McAfee Safe Connect ) if you don't want them installed automatically.

01. After the Battle

02. Apple-Blossoms

03. At Shakespeare's Grave

04. Barbara' Courtship

05. Bi-Centennial Ode

06. Carving a Name

07. A Chant of Life

08. The Chant of the Three Sisters

09. The Child of the Street

10. A Child's Prayer

11. A Child's Question

12. A Christmas Ballad

13. The Confession

14. A Copperhead's Creed

15. A Cottage by the Sea

16. A Country Life for Me

17. Death of Little Alice

18. Elegy Written on the Occasion of the Death of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

19. Exempt

20. Extract from a Poem

21. The First of April

22. The First Tree

23. For a May Festival

24. For the Consecration of a Cemetery

25. The Fountain of Love

26. The Fountain of Youth

27. Friar Anselmo (A Medieval Legend)

28. Geraldine

29. Gone to the War

30. Grand'ther Baldwin's Thanksgiving

31. Harvard Class of 1852

32. Harvard Ode 1852 (The Ties That Have Bound Us So Long)

33. Harvard Ode 1869 (Dear Guide of Our Youth's Golden Days)

34. Harvard Ode 1870 (As We Meet in Thy Name, Alma Mater, Tonight)

35. Harvard Ode 1871

36. Harvard Ode 1872 (The Months Have Accomplished Their Round)

37. Harvard Ode 1873 (There's a Fountain of Fable Whose Magical Power)

38. Harvard Ode 1892

39. He Has Gone and I Have Sent Him

40. Hymn: Consecration of Cemetery

41. Hymn For Semi-Centennial Celebration of the Dedication of the First Unitarian Church of South Natick (MA), November 20, 1878

42. I Think of Thee 2017

43. In the Church in Stratford-on-Avon

44. Introductory Poem for a May Festival

45. Jennie's Gift

50. Lines Written on Christmas Day, 1865

51. Little Charlie

52. The Lost Heart

53. Maid Marian

54. Midsummer

55. Mrs. Browning's Grave at Florence

56. Morning

57. The Mountain Maid

62. Ode to Pompey

63. The Old School House

68. Phi Beta Kappa Song

69. Phoebe's Wooing

70. The Price of Victory

71. The Primary School

72. Ties of Old (reprinted as Psi Upsilon Fraternity Greeting Song)

73. Rose in the Garden

74. The Sailor's Farewell

75. St. Nicholas

76. Semi-Centennial Hymn

77. Society)

78. The Soldier to His Betrothed

79. A Soldier's Valentine

80. Something to Do

81. Song of the Croaker

82. Spring

83. Summer Hours

84. They Told Me Thou Wert False, Jamie

85. This Night Let Us Rest

86. Ties of Old

87. To an Absent Friend

88. Uncle Frank's Valentine

89. A Valentine

90. Voices of the Past

91. A Welcome to May

92. Where Is My Boy To-Night?

93. The Whippoorwill and I

94. Who Will Miss Me?

95. The Song of Santa Claus

96. As You Cross the Street

97. The Queen of Baby Land

Westgard included a poem entitled "Song of Santa Claus" in his publication, Alger Street, 1964. He gave no indication of its original source. The title wasn't included in Bennett's listing of Alger poems, A Collector's Guide to the Published Works of Horatio Alger, Jr., 1999. Can anyone identify the original source of this poem?

3/22/2021. The source has been identified as being included as part of "Bertha's Christmas Vision", a short story being reprinted in the book of the same name. The story originally appeared in The Monthly Religious Magazine, Vol X, second series Vol VIII, F.D. Huntington, ed. Feb 1853. The author of the story is given as "H.A. Jr", ie Horatio Alger Jr., and in a footnote indicates that the author of the poem "Song of Santa Claus" is J. L. Fenton. Thanks to Deidre A. Johnson and Robert Eastlack for bringing this to our attention.