James Whitcomb Riley was born in 1849 in Greenfield, Indiana, to Reubin A. and Elizabeth Riley. Like Lew, Riley disliked school but loved to read; he left school at age sixteen. He read law with his father for a time, but apparently had little inclination or talent for it, and […]
poetry
6 posts
Indiana Poet Laureate Shari Wagner visited us as part of our 2016 Lew Wallace Festival of Words and gave a fascinating reading of several of her poems inspired by Indiana history. Shari Wagner, Indiana’s fifth Poet Laureate, is the author of two books of poetry: The Harmonist at Nightfall: Poems […]
April is National Poetry Month. Lew and Susan both wrote dozens of poems, and occasionally we like to share them here. To celebrate the end of National Poetry Month, take some time to relax and read some of Lew’s poetry from his celebrated novel Ben-Hur. TIRZAH’S SONGWake not, but hear […]
We spend most of our time here talking about Lew, but Susan was also an accomplished individual. She published six books and numerous articles and poems. Several of her poems are about special occasions. She wrote this poem for Lew, and we thought it would be a good one to […]
This poem by Susan was written Christmas Eve, 1868, and published in the Crawfordsville Journal.Christmas Song for ChildrenOh, could I have my wish this Christmas night,Some fairy should fly through the cold starlight,And bear you away on her gentle breast,To gardens enchanted, where all that’s best,Sweetest, and best, from every […]
It’s been a week of tantalizing research leads. One of the more interesting leads walked in the door on Thursday morning. Mr. Johns from Tennessee came for a visit at the Museum and told us that during the Civil War, General Wallace was in Lavergne, Tennessee, near Murfreesboro when he […]