Tribute to Sam Clemens
Sam Clemens, beloved American writer,
was brought on a comet's wings,
Halley appeared in the month of his birth,
a November, as memory brings.
Raised in a home of seven children,
and at age eleven, his hands went to work.
After the death of his father back then,
to write for a newspaper, and as a clerk.
A tough life the little Samuel had,
as many subjects of his writings, he did meet,
Huck Finn and Sawyer were stars,
in his books of river life, in the times, so sweet,
Life along the Mississippi, and in reading of them all,
we each did laugh and grin,
Tales of intrigue, about human needs,
of the comedy and tragedy found, in the end.
A newspaper man of much renown,
he found many supporters and foes, by his pen,
In his travels and experiences about the world,
the expression of his feelings, to begin.
His home, when he was young, did have a white picket fence,
as of it, in one story, he had told,
Sam grew up to be a champion of the written word,
he never feared in his being so bold,
His "Celebrated Jumping Frog..", and the humor to be found,
about the times along the river,
We all were blessed by his writings, of delight,
and we respect him so much, as our joy giver.
He married and had a wonderful family life,
to travel afar, and in his questioning, to have no end,
He lived his life as a free spirit of the human condition,
in his trip, left us a bit, around the bend.
When he passed away on a trip he had made,
in writing to us, a message, he did so leave,
He was both rich and poor, to be loved and to be shunned,
but in his rich character, we are not to grieve.
Born in the time of the comet, this great man came,
and such a fine gift, to bring us, on its flaming wings,
Then to take him a way, in its gentle breath,
the same deliverer of all good news, it so brings.
Sam worked on the river as a riverboat pilot and later used the pen name, "Mark Twain", as it was how the men used to measure the depth of the water by using twine as a marker to gauge the depth. He would yell,"Mark twain" meaning, safe water, and in marking the twine, the calling leadsman was able to keep them off the bottom in that manner in the heavy paddle boats.
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