JAMES W. WARD In 1838, a little book, entitled " Yorick and other Poems,"* was printed at Cleve- land. It was, we believe, the first volume of poems published in northern Ohio, and the critics of the newspapers and magazines of that day received it with woz'ds of generous encouragement, though but few had ever heard the name, at the head of this page, by which " Yorick " was known outside of literary circles. James Warren Ward was born at Newark, New Jersey, in the year 1818. His father, who was an influential bookseller and publisher in that city, died when James was four years old. He grew to be a studious lad, and was a Franklin medal boy ia the Boston High School, He particularly cultivated the natural sciences, and about the time he was promoted from boyhood to manhood, became, at Cincinnati, a favorite pupil of John Locke, Professor of Chemistry in the Ohio Medical College. Mr. Ward was a contributor to the Gineinnati Mirror, The Hesperian, and other early periodicals of the West, in both prose and verse. He became well known as a bota- nist, and was associated with J. A. Warder, in 1855, in the management of The Western Horticultural Revieio. He was for several years corrector of the press and literary referee of the publishing house of Henry W. Derby & Co., and was, in 1856 and in 1857, a frequent contributor to the Cincinnati Gazette. Articles of merit from his pen have been published by the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He has cultivated music with success, and is the author of sacred pieces which have been much admired and widely used. Several of Mr. Ward's minor poems have been very popular. His " Musketo Song " was published in a leading journal of England, and commended as " a fine specimen of English poetry." " Childish Wisdom " has been made known as widely as a majority of the miscellaneous journals of our country are circulated. The poems written by Mr. Ward since 1838, have not been collected, but it is probable that he will issue them before another year expires, in a volume which he proposes to entitle, " Home-Made Verses and Stories in Rhyme." It will contain not only the best poems Mr. Ward has contributed to the newspapers and magazines, but several that have not yet been given to the public. Two of the poems furnished by him for this volume — "Niagai-a" and "The Autumn Song" — are here first published. Among the afterpieces or parodies of Henry W. Longfellow's " Hiawatha " was one from the pen of Mr. Ward. It was published in the Oincinnati Gazette a few days after " Hiawatha " reached that city. Its title was " Higher- Water," and it purported to be a legend of disturbance in the dominions of Scag-rag, King of Wharf-rats, on account of an unexpected freshet. It contains many capital hits. We quote a few lines, showing its spirit and plan :
- Torick and other Poems. Cleveland, Ohio: Sanford & Lott, 1838. 8vo, pp. 72.
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