Lincoln's Song - On Death, A Poem, and his First Love (Episode #72, 11 Nov. 2021)

In this episode, we cover Abe Lincoln's favorite poem, "Oh, why should the spirit of mortal be proud" by William Knox. I learned about this poem while reading Lincoln's eulogy of our nation's 11th president, Zachary Taylor, which he gave at the Chicago City Hall on July 9, 1850.

I am going to do a separate podcast on the eulogy, in part, because he so eloquently covers Taylor's leadership qualities. Taylor is interesting to me because both Lincoln and my man-crush, US Grant, greatly admired Taylor, "Old Rough and Ready." That cast will have to wait because of awesomeness of this poem, which Lincoln recited from memory at the end of the eulogy. He referred to it throughout his life in private, but only referred used it once in a public address at Taylor's eulogy.

Lincoln loved it so much that he also shared it with his first love Ann Rutledge. He apparently quoted it so much that Rutledge's sister called it "Lincoln's Song".

We cover death, love, life, and of course, exuberant stoicism. Carpe diem.

Whoa, I loved doing this podcast. If you're interested in Lincoln's speeches, check out my show notes.