January 6

Warned by Hector's Ghost

In the dead of night Hector's ghost appeared to warn AEneas of the impending doom to come upon the walled city of Troy. AEneas lifted his aged father on his back and, taking his son by the hand, sought safety in flight. Off to Latium!
(H. Schliemann, discoverer of ancient Troy, born Jan. 6, 1822.)

Read: from Virgil's AENEID Vol. 13, pp. 107-127

January 5

The Soaring Eagle and Contented Stork

Mazzini labored for the freedom of Italy, but was exiled. Byron and Goethe also battled for liberty. Mazzini wrote an essay in which he compared Byron to a soaring eagle and Goethe to a contented stork.
(Byron arrived in Greece to fight for Greek freedom, Jan. 5, 1824.)

Read: Mazzini's BYRON AND GOETHE Vol. 32, pp. 377-396

January 4

A Flounder Fish Story

A fisherman, so the story goes, once caught a flounder that spoke, begging to be released. This was granted, whereupon the fisher­man's wife demanded that it grant her one miracle after another, until even the flounder was disgusted.
(Jacob Grimm, elder of the famous Grimm brothers, born Jan. 4, 1785.)

Read from GRIMM'S FAIRY TALES Vol. 17, pp. 83-90

January 3

Cicero on Friendship

"Fire and water are not of more universal use than friendship" - such is the high value put upon this great human relationship by the most famous orator of Rome.
(Cicero born Jan. 3, 106 B. C.)

Read from Cicero ON FRIENDSHIP Vol. 9, pp. 16-26

January 2

School-Day Poems of John Milton
At the age of sixteen, Milton first appeared before the public eye as a promising young poet. These early verses, written while he was a boy in school, indicate his brilliant future.
(First edition of Milton's collected poems published Jan. 2, 1645.)

Read: MILTON'S POEMS Vol. 4, pp. 7-18

January 1

JANUARY

ST. AGNES' Eve! - Ah, bitter chill it was!
The owl, for all his feathers, was a-cold;
The hare limp'd trembling through the frozen grass,
And silent was the flock in woolly fold. . .
KEATS (Vol. 41, p. 883)

Franklin's Advice for the New Year

"Resolution: Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve"-was one of the rules for success framed by America's first "self-made" man.

Read:  From  FRANKLIN'S AUTOBIOGRAPHY  (The Harvard Classics: Vol. 1, pp. 79-85)

July 8

Italy's Fair Assassin
When the monstrous Cenci forced his daughter Beatrice into a horrible situation, she revolted and boldly struck for freedom. Shelley tells her pitiful story in one of his best works.
(Percy Bysshe Shelley drowned, July 8, 1822.)

Read from Shelley's CENCI Vol. 18, pp. 288-300