Daley - Great Eulogies Throughout History

GREAT
EULOGIES
THROUGHOUT
HISTORY

GREAT
EULOGIES
THROUGHOUT
HISTORY

EDITED BY JAMES DA L EY

DOVER PUBLICATIONS, INC.

MINEOLA, NEW YORK

.

Copyright

Copyright 2016 by Dover Publications, Inc.

All rights reserved.

Bibliographical Note

Great Eulogies Throughout History is a new compilation, first published by Dover Publications, Inc., in 2016. James Daley has selected and arranged the eulogies and provided all the introductory material. Some selections in this book have been reprinted exactly as they were previously published in an effort to preserve the consistency of the original documents and their historical context, which may include archaic terminology and spelling.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Daley, James, 1979, editor.

Title: Great eulogies throughout history / edited by James Daley.

Description: Mineola, New York: Dover Publications, Inc., 2016.

Identifiers: LCCN 2016010793| ISBN 9780486805320 | ISBN 0486805328

Subjects: LCSH: Eulogies. | BiographyMiscellanea. | HistoryMiscellanea.

Classification: LCC CT105 .G723 2016 | DDC 920.02dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016010793

Manufactured in the United States by RR Donnelley

80532801 2016

www.doverpublications.com

Note

THROUGHOUT ALL OF recorded history, people of every race and culture have gathered together to honor the dead with words of praise, love, and remembrance. Whether their words are delivered at the funeral service itself, or years later at a public memorial, these writings and speeches address the loss of an entire community by remembering the life of the deceased, and speaking to their impact on friends, family, and the world in which they lived.

While ceremonies honoring the dead go back to humanitys earliest days, the modern concept of the eulogy traces its history back to the funeral orations (epitaphios logos) of ancient Greece, in which a prominent orator would praise a deceased citizens virtues at a public burial ceremony. While the majority of the eulogies contained in this anthology were delivered during the last 200 years, Pericles classic Funeral Oration is included to provide an example of these roots in antiquity.

After Pericles, the earliest eulogies contained in this collection are those given for the nations founding fathers. These include Henry Lees eulogy of George Washington, Harrison Otiss eulogy of Alexander Hamilton, and Daniel Websters incredible eulogy of both Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, which he delivered in Boston one month after they both died on the Fourth of July, 1826the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

Some of the greatest eulogies contained in this volume are the ones in which a great artist or writer is honored by one of his or her contemporaries. Most notable among these are William Makepeace Thackerays eulogy of Charlotte Bront, Ralph Waldo Emersons eulogy of Henry David Thoreau, Robert Ingersolls eulogy of Walt Whitman, and Stephen Spenders remarks in honor of W. H. Auden, delivered in 1974, when Audens name was added to Westminster Abbeys illustrious Poets Corner.

On the other side of the coin, there is something singularly inspirational about a eulogy delivered not for a speakers contemporary or friend, but for one of their personal heroes. In Bob Costass eulogy of Mickey Mantle, the famed sportscaster reflects the impact that the legendary ballplayer had on a nation of fans, and on his own childhood love for baseball. Similarly, Victor Hugo eulogizes Voltaire on the one-hundredth anniversary of Voltaires death, expounding on the depth and breadth of his influence on a century of writers who had never ceased reading and idolizing his work.

Perhaps the most profound eulogies are those delivered in honor of historys great humanitarians. In these, we find not only the remembrance of an individuals life, but examples of how one life can do so much to transform and shape the world for the better. Some of these include Abraham Lincolns eulogy by Frederick Douglass, Susan B. Anthonys eulogy by Anna Howard Shaw, Martin Luther King Jr.s eulogy by Benjamin Mays, Coretta Scott Kings eulogy by Maya Angelou, and Nelson Mandelas eulogy by President Barack Obama.

While it is certainly inspiring to read the eulogies of great historic figures, delivered by impassioned orators, some of the most touching eulogies are those that spring from a deep personal relationship between the speaker and the deceased. For example, Albert Einsteins eulogy is delivered by his great friend and long-time colleague Ernst Straus; Emily Dickinson is remembered by her sister-in-law Susan Gilbert Dickinson; T. S. Eliot is eulogized by his dear friend Sir Rupert Hart-Davis; and at the end of one of literatures most famous relationships, Henry Miller delivered the eulogy for Anas Nin.

While reflecting on the life of Nelson Mandela in the final speech of this anthology, President Barack Obama confessed, It is hard to eulogize any manto capture in words not just the facts and the dates that make a life, but the essential truth of a persontheir private joys and sorrows; the quiet moments and unique qualities that illuminate someones soul. If anything, this is an understatement, as no one speech or essay can hope to encapsulate an entire life and its impact on the world and the people it touched. Nonetheless, it is the aim of this anthology to offer some of the greatest attempts at this herculean task, and in doing so to provide a unique viewpoint on some of historys most prominent figures through the remembrances of those who honored their lives.

JAMES DALEY

Contents

by Pericles

by Major General Henry Lee

by Harrison G. Otis

by Daniel Webster

by Franz Grillparzer

by Amasa McCoy

by William Makepeace Thackeray

by Ralph Waldo Emerson

by Frederick Douglass

by Victor Hugo

by Rev. Henry Ward Beecher

by Susan Gilbert Dickinson

by Robert Ingersoll

by Annabel Goan

by Rev. Anna Howard Shaw

by John H. Finley

by Ernst Straus

by Mike Mansfield, Earl Warren, and John W. McCormack

by Sir Rupert Hart-Davis

by Benjamin E. Mays

by Stephen Spender

by Henry Miller

by President Ronald Reagan

by Bob Costas

by Maya Angelou

by President Barack Obama

Acknowledgments

W. H. Auden: New Collected Poems by Stephen Spender 2004. Reprinted by kind permission of the Estate of Stephen Spender.

Albert Einstein: Reprinted by permission of Daniel Straus.

T. S. Eliot: Reprinted by permission of Duff and Adam Hart-Davis.

Coretta Scott King: Eulogy of Coretta Scott King by Maya Angelou. Copyright 2006 by Maya Angelou. Used by permission of Caged Bird Legacy, LLC.

Martin Luther King Jr.: from Born to Rebel, Appendix C, by Benjamin E. Mays, University of Georgia Press, Copyright 2003 by the University of Georgia Press, Athens, Georgia.

Mickey Mantle: Reprinted by permission of Bob Costas.

Anas Nin: Reprinted by permission of Henry Miller Estate.

FUNERAL ORATION

by Pericles (431 BC)

Pericles (495429 BC) was an eminent politician and military leader who served as general of Athens during the Persian and Peloponnesian Wars. In this eulogy, delivered at a public funeral after the first year of the Peloponnesian War, Pericles honors the Athenian soldiers who died in battle.

MOST OF THOSE who have spoken here before me have commended the lawgiver who added this oration to our other funeral customs. It seemed to them a worthy thing that such an honor should be given at their burial to the dead who have fallen on the field of battle. But I should have preferred that, when mens deeds have been brave, they should be honored in deed only, and with such an honor as this public funeral, which you are now witnessing. Then the reputation of many would not have been imperiled on the eloquence or want of eloquence of one, and their virtues believed or not as he spoke well or ill. For it is difficult to say neither too little nor too much; and even moderation is apt not to give the impression of truthfulness. The friend of the dead who knows the facts is likely to think that the words of the speaker fall short of his knowledge and of his wishes; another who is not so well informed, when he hears of anything which surpasses his own powers, will be envious and will suspect exaggeration. Mankind are tolerant of the praises of others so long as each hearer thinks that he can do as well or nearly as well himself, but, when the speaker rises above him, jealousy is aroused and he begins to be incredulous. However, since our ancestors have set the seal of their approval upon the practice, I must obey, and to the utmost of my power shall endeavor to satisfy the wishes and beliefs of all who hear me.