Last Leaf, The

The Oxford Companion to American Literature | 1995 | 549 words | Copyright

Last Leaf, The, poem by Oliver Wendell Holmes, first published in The Amateur (1831) and reprinted in his Poems (1836), and, according to the poet, “suggested by the appearance in one of our streets of a venerable relic of the Revolution, said to be one of the party who threw the tea overboard in Boston Harbor.” The subject is Major Thomas Melville, Herman Melville's grandfather, and the poet's smile leveled at him is not meant disrespectfully,But the old three‐cornered hat,
And the breeches, and all that,
Are so queer!

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James D. Hart and and Phillip W. Leininger. "Last Leaf, The." The Oxford Companion to American Literature. 1995. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

James D. Hart and and Phillip W. Leininger. "Last Leaf, The." The Oxford Companion to American Literature. 1995. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O123-LastLeafThe.html

James D. Hart and and Phillip W. Leininger. "Last Leaf, The." The Oxford Companion to American Literature. 1995. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O123-LastLeafThe.html

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