The Poet at the Breakfast-table

Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr., (1809-1894) was a physician by profession but achieved fame as a writer. He was one of the best regarded American poets of the 19th century. In 1833 Holmes attended the famed Ecole de Médecine in Paris. He pursued his medical studies in the Parisian hospital system. He first attained national prominence with his poem Old Ironsides. One of his most popular works was The Autocrat of the Breakfast Table (1857). He was one of the five members of the group known as the Fireside Poets. He contributed poems and essays to the Atlantic Monthly from its inception, and also published novels. Holmes is also known for his writing of several beautiful hymns. In 1846, Holmes coined the word anesthesia. He also developed the popular model of the stereoscope. Amongst his other works are Elsie Venner (1861), The Guardian Angel (1867), The Poet at the Breakfast-Table (1872), John Lothrop Motley: A Memoir (1879), Medical Essays (1883), A Mortal Antipathy: First Opening of the New Portfolio (1885) and Over the Teacups (1891).