The Buckley School's founder believed all public speakers should hone their presentation skills by reading poetry out loud. We keep that worthwhile practice alive by including a poem in our magazine each month for you to read aloud. Above, an image of Mr. Spectator (or at least one half of Mr. Spectator), Joseph Addison.
"to enliven morality with wit, and to temper wit with morality"
– Mr. Spectator, on the aim of "his" daily publication
Joseph Addison may be best known as half of the duo who published The Spectator, which he did with Richard Steele from 1711 to 1712 in England. Along with essays, Addison wrote plays, hymns, and poetry.
His play Cato, a Tragedy was the source of lines in several speeches significant during the American Revolution:
- Patrick Henry's famous "Give me liberty or give me death!" is said to have been inspired by a line from the play.
- Nathan Hale's "I regret that I have but one life to give for my country" echoes a line from the play: "What a pity it is/That we can die but once to serve our country."
Addison also had a political career, serving as a secretary of state and as a member of Parliament.
Born in 1672, he died in 1719 at the age of 47 - decades before American and French revolutionaries would turn to his play for inspiration.
"Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body."
– Joseph Addison, writing for the "Tatler"
For your public speaking inspiration this month, we provide one of his shorter poems to read out loud.
Hope
Our lives, discoloured with our present woes,
May still grow white and shine with happier hours.
So the pure limped stream, when foul with stains
Of rushing torrents and descending rains,
Works itself clear, and as it runs refines,
till by degrees the floating mirror shines;
Reflects each flower that on the border grows,
And a new heaven in its fair bosom shows.
LEARN MORE
For a look at how Patrick Henry's famous speech came to be, see this.
For more poems to read aloud with a theme of hope, see this and this.
Here's one of our favorite stories about the benefits of reading out loud - a barber who helps kids build confidence by encouraging them to read aloud while they're in his chair.
