Hoi 
 
 
LINCOLN ROOM 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 
 LIBRARY 
 
 MEMORIAL 
 the Class of 1901 
 
 founded by 
 
 HARLAN HOYT HORNER 
 
 and 
 
 HENRIETTA CALHOUN HORNER 
 
*S 3 
 
 i 
 
 THE 
 
 BEAR 
 
 HUNT 
 
 BY 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 ♦X* 
 
 WRITTEN 
 
 ABOUT 
 
 1844 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 
 in 2012 with funding from 
 
 University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/bearhuntOOIinc 
 
The Bear Hunt 
 
 by 
 
 Abraham Lincoln 
 
 Written about 1844 
 
 One Hundred Copies 
 
 Printed under direction of 
 
 Charles T. White, Hancock, N. Y. 
 
 Distributed by Ladies' Aid Society of 
 
 Emory Methodist Church, Hancock, N. Y. 
 
 Herald Print, Hancock, N. Y. 
 
THE BEAR HUNT 
 

 At^J 
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 Abraham Lincoln neither wrote, nor 
 attemplsHo write, much verse. He 
 wrote a short piece about a boyhood 
 playmate whom he found insane when 
 in 1844 he made campaign speeches in 
 Indiana in the year 1844. The visit 
 to his old home at Gentry ville, Ind. , 
 prompted him to write a longer 
 poem, "The Bear Hunt," in which 
 he participated. 
 
 In 1925 Charles T. White of Han- 
 cock, owner of an extensive Lincoln 
 collection, obtained consent of the 
 Morgan Library to photostat the 
 manuscript of "The Bear Hunt." 
 
 The manuscript ;is one of the most 
 valuable of all Lincoln autographs. 
 Collectors say it would sell for $15,- 
 000. Here is Lincoln's "Bear Hunt": 
 
 —si*"" 
 
A wild bear chase dids't never see? 
 
 Then hast thou lived in vain — 
 Thy richest bump of glorious glee 
 
 Lies desert in thy brain. 
 
 When first my father settled here, 
 
 'T was then the frontier line; 
 The panther's scream filled night with 
 
 fear 
 And bears preyed on the swine. 
 
 But woe for bruin's short-lived fun 
 When rose the squealing cry; 
 
 Now man and horse, with dog and 
 gun 
 For vengeance at him fly. 
 
 A sound of danger strikes his ear; 
 
 He gives the breeze a snuff; 
 Away he bounds, with little fear, 
 
 And seeks the tangled rough. 
 
 On press his foes, and reach the 
 ground 
 
 Where's left his half -munched meal; 
 The dogs, in circles, scent around 
 
 And find his fresh made trail. 
 
With instant cry, away they dash, 
 
 And men as fast pursue; 
 O'er logs they leap, through water 
 splash 
 
 And shout the brisk halloo. 
 
 Now to elude the eager pack 
 Bear shuns the open ground, 
 
 Through matted vines he shapes his 
 track, 
 And runs it, round and round. 
 
 The tall, fleet cur, with deep-mouth- 
 ed voice 
 Now speeds him, as the wind; 
 While half -grown pup, and short 
 legged fice 
 Are yelping far behind. 
 
 And fresh recruits are dropping in 
 
 To join the merry corps; 
 With yelp and yell, a mingled din — 
 
 The woods are in a roar. 
 
 And round, and round the chase now 
 goes, 
 
 The world's alive with fun; 
 Nick Carter's horse his rider throws, 
 
 And Mose Hill drops his gun. 
 
Now, sorely pressed, bear glances 
 back, 
 
 And lolls his tired tongue, 
 When as, to force him from his track 
 
 An ambush on him sprung. 
 
 Across the glade he sweeps for flight 
 
 And fully is in view — 
 The dogs, new fired by the sight 
 
 Their cry and speed renew. 
 
 The foremost ones now reach his rear; 
 
 He turns, they dash away, 
 And circling now the wrathful bear 
 
 They have him full at bay. 
 
 At top of speed the horsemen come. 
 
 All screaming in a row — 
 'Whoop!' 'Take him, Tiger!' 'Seize 
 
 him, Drum!' 
 Bang — bang! the rifles go! 
 
 And furious now, the dogs he tears, 
 
 And crushes in his ire — 
 Wheels right and left, and upward 
 rears, 
 
 With eyes of burning fire. 
 
But leaden death is at his heart — 
 Vain all the strength he plies, 
 
 And, spouting blood from every part, 
 He reels, and sinks, and dies! 
 
 And now a dinsome clamor rose, — 
 'But who should have his skin?' 
 
 Who first draws blood, each hunter 
 knows 
 The prize must always win. 
 
 But, who did this, and how to trace 
 What's true from what's a lie, — 
 
 Like lawyers in a murder case 
 They stoutly argufy. 
 
 Aforesaid fice, of blustering mood, 
 Behind, and quite forgot, 
 
 Just now emerging from the wood 
 Arrives upon the spot, 
 
 With grinning teeth, and up-turned 
 hair 
 
 Brim full of spunk and wrath, 
 He growls, and seizes on dead bear 
 
 And shakes for life and death — 
 
And swells, as if his skin would tear, 
 And growls, and shakes again, 
 
 And swears, as plain as dog can 
 swear 
 That he has won the skin! 
 
 Conceited whelp! we laugh at thee, 
 
 Nor mind that not a few 
 Of pompous, two-legged dogs there 
 be 
 
 Conceited quite as you. 
 
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS-URBANA 
 
 973.7L63K1925B19- C001 
 
 THE BEAR HUNT HANCOCK 
 
 3 0112 031830448