The Arena

In 1838, Doctor Holmes accepted his first professorial position, and
became professor of anatomy and physiology at Dartmouth. Two
years later, he married, and took up the practice of medicine in
Boston. In 1847, he returned to his old love, accepting the Parkman
professorship of anatomy and physiology, in the Medical School at
Harvard. While engaged in teaching, he prepared for publication
several important books and reports relating to his profession, and
his papers in the various medical journals attracted great attention
by their freshness, clearness, and originality. But it is not as a
medical man that Doctor Holmes may be discussed in this paper.
We have to deal altogether with his literary career,—a career, which
for its brilliancy has not been surpassed on this side of the Atlantic.
As a poet he differs much from his contemporaries, but the standard
he has reached is as high as that which has been attained by Lowell
and Longfellow. In lofty verse he is strong and unconventional,
writing always with a firm grasp on his subject, and emphasizing
his perfect knowledge of melody and metre.