These presidents were more than just politicians — they also tried their hand at poesy .
1. “From your bright sparkling Eyes, I was Undone” — George Washington
Long before he was our first president , George Washington was just a teen in love . So he did what so many teenager do : He wrotetwo lovesick poems in his diary , one of which was dedicated to Frances Alexander , in 1749 - 50 :
Washington was attempting to make an acrostic — in which the first varsity letter of each ancestry forms a intelligence — but he only got midway through Alexander ’s last name before abandoning his try .
2. “Verse on Lee’s Invasion of the North” — Abraham Lincoln
Like Washington , Abraham Lincoln was a teenage poet , penning poesy in his arithmetic bookbetween the ages of 15 and 17 . He keep to record and write poetry throughout his life , including the semisweet " My Childhood - Home I See Again , " written in February 1846 . The last verse form Lincoln is known to have write , " Verse on Lee ’s Invasion of the North , " was about the North ’s victory at Gettysburgon July 3 ; Lincoln wrote it on July 19 , 1863 :
Clearly , he was save up the serious stuff for the Gettysburg Address .
3. “A death-bed Adieu. Th:J to MR” — Thomas Jefferson
Our third president had a swell appreciation of verse — so nifty , in fact , that hemade scrapbookscomprised solely of clippings of poems he like ( he also helped his granddaughters make them ) . There ’s only one surviving poem that Jefferson himself , compose , though , when he was nearing his death—“A expiry - bed Adieu . thorium : J to MR , " or Martha Randolph , his girl :
Jefferson stashed the rhyme in a little box , which he instruct Randolph to open after he had died .
4. “Sweet Lady, Awake! A Serenade.” — John Tyler
Our 10th presidentoften wrote verse , penning verses when he was happy , when he was deplorable , and when he was going through periods of transition . " Sweet Lady , Awake ! A Serenade " was written in 1843 , when Tyler was president and wooing his second wife , Julia Gardiner :
Julia , 30 old age younger than Tyler , determine the poem to medicine after the pair were married .
5. “A Poem Against the Tories” — James Madison
Madison wrotethree poemsin the early 1770s , when he was attend to the College of New Jersey ( aka Princeton).According to the Library of Congress , the pieces were " written as part of a newspaper war between the American Whig Society and the Cliosophian Society " and were " recorded along with sixteen other American Whig Society satiric man in a notebook transcript by [ Madison ’s friend ] William Bradford . " Madison — a Whig — address one " A Poem Against the Tory " :
6. “Considering the Void” — Jimmy Carter
In 1995 , former president Jimmy Carterpublished a Holy Scripture of 44 poemscalledAlways a Reckoning , and Other Poems . He recites " Considering the Void " in the television above .
7. “Underground” — Barack Obama
When he was 19 , our current presidentpublished two poemsinFeast , the literary magazine of Occidental College — one about his grandfather , call " dad , " and another called " Underground " :
8. “The Hour-Glass” — John Quincy Adams
John Quincy Adams was a great devotee of poetry ; he understand it , wrote it , andtranslated it from other languages into English . After he died in 1848 , his verses were published inPoems of Religion and Society , including " The Hour - Glass " :
9. “I love your back, I love your breasts” — Warren G. Harding
By most accounts , Warren G. Harding wasnot a great President of the United States . But hewasan splendid generator ofdirty poetryand varsity letter , which he sent to his mistress , Carrie Phillips :
" Jerry … told me to say that you are the good and dear in the world , " he wrote to Phillips in 1915 , when he was a senator , " and if he could have but one wish , it would be to be held in your favorite embrace and be tickle by your pink lip that fetch the surpassing rapture of human touch and the unspeakable joy of love ’s outmatch bosom . " Jerry , by the path , was Harding ’s nickname for his phallus .
you could read more of Harding ’s letters to Phillips , which latterly became public , here , and enjoyLast Week Tonighthost John Oliver ’s hilarious take on the lettershere .
AND ONE THAT WASN’T
Woodrow Wilsonloved limericks , and was so doting of reciting one in special — which starts " For beauty I am not a star”—that he was often credit with writing it . But in fact , the verse form was written by Anthony Euwer in 1917 .
