David Bates (March 6, 1809 – January 25, 1870) was an American poet. He was born in

Indian Hill, Ohio The Village of Indian Hill is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and a suburb of the Greater Cincinnati area. The population was 6,087 at the 2020 census. Prior to 1970, Indian Hill was incorporated as a village, but under Ohio law ...

, and educated in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is a Administrative divisions of New York (state), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and county seat of Erie County, New York, Erie County. It lies in Western New York at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of ...

, before working in first

Indianapolis Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

then

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

. In 1849, he published a volume of poetry, ''Eolian''. Among his best-known works are ''Speak Gently'', which was parodied by

Lewis Carroll Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (27 January 1832 – 14 January 1898), better known by his pen name Lewis Carroll, was an English author, poet, mathematician, photographer and reluctant Anglicanism, Anglican deacon. His most notable works are ''Alice ...

in ''

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (also known as ''Alice in Wonderland'') is an 1865 English Children's literature, children's novel by Lewis Carroll, a mathematics university don, don at the University of Oxford. It details the story of a ...

'', as well as "Chiding", and "Childhood". He started his adult life as a lowly clerk but, through hard work and determination, made his way in the business and eventually became a full member and chief buyer for an Indianapolis mercantile house. Apart from that Bates had a talent for writing easy going, gentle poetry and, at the age of 40, he had a collection of poems published under the title Eolian. One of the best known poems in this collection – Speak Gently – has become something of a universal hymn for people all over the world.

External links

Profile
allpoetry.com. Accessed March 29, 2024. 1809 births 1870 deaths Poets from Ohio 19th-century American poets American male poets 19th-century American male writers

References

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