On this day in 1783 American writer Washington Irving was born. He was named after America’s greatest statesman for obvious reasons (the War of Independence ended that year).

Irving grew up in Manhattan and is best known for his stories of American folklore such as Rip van Winkle and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Irving is held to be the first American man of letters meaning the first to earn a living through his own writing. He also performed diplomatic roles while in Europe, some of which gave him material for his stories.

He never married but was generally recognised as a charming and witty guest, popular with the ladies. Here is a typical poem of his, A Certain Young Lady:

There’s a certain young lady,
Who’s just in her heyday,
And full of all mischief, I ween;
So teasing! So pleasing!
Capricious! Delicious!
And you know very well whom I mean.
With a stately step — such as
You’d expect in a duchess —
And a brow might distinguish a queen,
With a mighty proud air,
That says “touch me who dare,”
And you know very well whom I mean.
..Heaven help the adorer
Who happens to bore her,
The lover who wakens her spleen;
But too blest for a sinner
Is he who shall win her,
And you know very well whom I mean.

 

Today I will try to learn from the example of others and recognise how they achieve serenity.