Sam Walter Foss (June 19, 1858 – February 26, 1911) was an American librarian and

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

whose works included ''The House by the Side of the Road'' and ''The Coming American.''

Life and career

left, Birthplace of Sam Foss in Candia, New Hampshire Foss was born in rural Candia,

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

, the son of Polly (Hardy) and Dyer Foss. His mother died when he was four years old, and he worked on his father's farm and went to school in the winter. Foss attended the Tilton Seminary, now Tilton School, before attending and graduating from

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

in 1882. He would eventually be considered illustrious enough to warrant having his name inscribed on the mace. Beginning in 1898, he served as librarian at the

Somerville Somerville may refer to: *Somerville College, Oxford, a constituent college of the University of Oxford Places *Somerville, Victoria, Australia * Somerville, Western Australia, a suburb of Kalgoorlie, Australia * Somerville, New Zealand, a subur ...

Public Library in

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

. He married a minister's daughter, with whom he had a daughter and son. Foss used to write a poem a day for the newspapers, and his five volumes of collected poetry are of the frank and homely “common man” variety. Foss is buried in the

North Burial Ground The North Burial Ground is a cemetery in Providence, Rhode Island dating to 1700, the first public cemetery in Providence. It is located north of downtown Providence, bounded by North Main Street, Branch Avenue, the Moshassuck River, and Ceme ...

Providence, Rhode Island Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts Bay ...

. He is featured on a

New Hampshire historical marker The U.S. state of New Hampshire has, since 1958, placed historical markers at locations that are deemed significant to New Hampshire history. The New Hampshire Division of Historical Resources (DHR) and the Department of Transportation (DOT) are j ...

( number 114) along

New Hampshire Route 43 New Hampshire Route 43 is a north–south state highway in southeastern New Hampshire which runs from Candia to Northwood. The southern terminus of NH 43 is at an interchange with New Hampshire Route 101 in Candia. The northern terminus is at ...

in Candia.

Influence

Foss's most famous poem is ''The Coming American'', which was published in his 1895 book ''Whiffs from Wild Meadows''. The poem rambles aimlessly through six pages about America's past, present, and future before turning to its most famous section: a "call" supposedly sent by "our Great Fate" to the future of America. The call begins as follows: "Bring me men to match my mountains / Bring me men to match my plains / Men with empires in their purpose / And new eras in their brains." For many years, these four lines were inscribed on a granite wall at the

United States Air Force Academy The United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) is a United States service academy in El Paso County, Colorado, immediately north of Colorado Springs. It educates cadets for service in the officer corps of the United States Air Force and Uni ...

to inspire cadets and officers, but they were removed in 2003 in reaction to the Air Force Academy sexual assault scandal. The poem is currently engraved and displayed at

Epcot Epcot, stylized in all uppercase as EPCOT, is a theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida. It is owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company through its Parks, Experiences and Products division. Inspired by an unreal ...

Orlando, Florida Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County, Florida, Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Greater Orlando, Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, acco ...

, and also inscribed onto the

Rocky Mountain Cup The Rocky Mountain Cup is a soccer trophy contested between Real Salt Lake and the Colorado Rapids. The cup is awarded by the Committee of 10, a group of bi-partisan fans who run the competition, to the team with the most points in games played b ...

trophy, which is contested annually between

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

teams

Real Salt Lake Real Salt Lake, often shortened to RSL, is an American professional soccer franchise based in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area. The club competes as a member club of Major League Soccer (MLS) in the Western Conference. RSL began play in 20 ...

and Colorado Rapids. The first line of the call is displayed prominently on the south facade of the

Jesse M. Unruh State Office Building The Jesse M. Unruh State Office Building is a building designed by Weeks and Day in Sacramento, California. It was previously known as the California State Office Building or the California State Treasurer's Building, but in 1987, it was renamed a ...

Sacramento, California ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento C ...

. Singer

Lamya Lamya Al-Mugheiry (30 October 1973 – 8 January 2009), better known as her mononym Lamya, was a Kenyan-born English singer-songwriter and record producer. She rose to fame in the early 1990s as one of the lead singers of R&B group Soul II Soul, ...

's song "

Empires (Bring Me Men) "Empires (Bring Me Men)" is a song by British singer Lamya, released in 2002. It was the first single taken from her debut album ''Learning from Falling''. It is based on a poem, ''The Coming American'', commemorating the 75th anniversary of the ...

" takes its opening lyrics from ''The Coming American,'' and the poem serves as inspiration for the rest of the song. Longtime baseball announcer Ernie Harwell alluded to Foss's ''The House by the Side of the Road'' whenever he described a batter taking a called third strike: "He stood there like the house by the side of the road and watched it go by." A recitation of Foss's ''Two Gods'' provides the lyrics to the song "A Greater God" by

MC 900 Ft. Jesus Mark Thomas Griffin (born 1957), better known as MC 900 Ft. Jesus, is an American rapper based in Dallas, Texas. A classically-trained musician, Griffin is known for blending hip hop with socially conscious lyrics and jazz. Early life and ed ...

Works

* ''Back Country Poems'' (

1892 Events January–March * January 1 – Ellis Island begins accommodating immigrants to the United States. * February 1 - The historic Enterprise Bar and Grill was established in Rico, Colorado. * February 27 – Rudolf Diesel applies for ...

) * ''Whiffs from Wild Meadows'' (

1895 Events January–March * January 5 – Dreyfus affair: French officer Alfred Dreyfus is stripped of his army rank, and sentenced to life imprisonment on Devil's Island. * January 12 – The National Trust for Places of Histor ...

) * ''Dreams in Homespun'' (

1897 Events January–March * January 2 – The International Alpha Omicron Pi sorority is founded, in New York City. * January 4 – A British force is ambushed by Chief Ologbosere, son-in-law of the ruler. This leads to a puniti ...

) * ''Songs of War and Peace'' (

1899 Events January 1899 * January 1 ** Spanish rule ends in Cuba, concluding 400 years of the Spanish Empire in the Americas. ** Queens and Staten Island become administratively part of New York City. * January 2 – **Bolivia sets up a c ...

) * ''The Song of the Library Staff'' "Read at the annual meeting of the American Library Association, Narragansett Pier, July 6, 1906" (Published separately (details needed), but also included in 'Songs of the Average Man'(

1906 Events January–February * January 12 – Persian Constitutional Revolution: A nationalistic coalition of merchants, religious leaders and intellectuals in Persia forces the shah Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar to grant a constitution, ...

) * ''Songs of the Average Man'' (

1907 Events January * January 14 – 1907 Kingston earthquake: A 6.5 Mw earthquake in Kingston, Jamaica, kills between 800 and 1,000. February * February 11 – The French warship ''Jean Bart'' sinks off the coast of Morocco. ...

)

References

External links

* *
Poems by Sam Walter Foss

*
Poems by Sam Walter Foss
at English Poetry {{DEFAULTSORT:Foss, Sam Walter 1858 births 1911 deaths American male poets People from Candia, New Hampshire Poets from Massachusetts Burials at North Burying Ground (Providence) Tilton School alumni American librarians