Washington Irving

Washington Irving (1783–1859) was an American essayist, short-story writer and diplomat, author of The Sketch Book (1819–20), including "Rip Van Winkle" and "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow". His few poems are album and occasional verses.

The poem here is the one printed under his name in Frederick Locker's Lyra Elegantiarum (London: E. Moxon, 1867), an anthology of vers de société and vers d'occasion by deceased authors; the texts follow that first edition.