1,000 words paint a powerful picture. Yes indeed. Here are a few more writings that punctuate the power of words.
The National Anthem of the United States of America
How many words, can you guess? Of course it’s well short of 1,000, but such imagery and beauty it conjures! Did you know The Star Spangled Banner as originally scribed by Francis Scott Key consists of four stanzas? The first stanza is a mere 80 words. The entire poem is 312 words. You owe it to yourself to read it.
Paul Revere’s Ride
Written by perhaps the United States’ most famous poet, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Paul Revere’s Ride is 986 words spread across 13 stanzas. Have you ever read it in its entirety? It is a marvelous ode. I recall two classmates in middle school reciting the entire poem from memory to the awe and admiration of their peers. It was quite remarkable.
The Declaration of Independence exceeds 1,000 by a count of an additional 322 words, but I challenge you to find a photo that changed the course of human history as did this creed.
In closing, and in the spirit of the season, I offer a very famous editorial penned by Francis P. Church. It was first published in the New York Sun in 1897 in response to a query from 8 year-old Virginia O’Hanlon: Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus. With the title, it is 491 words of timeless wonder and wisdom for the ages. Click on the link and allow yourself to be 8 again and reading this letter from the editor for the first time. Epic.
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