Did Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. really say to: “Speak clearly, if you speak at all; carve every word before you let it fall.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yes, he did. Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. (August 29, 1809 to October 7, 1894) was a physician and poet. That quote comes from an extremely long poem (over 5,900 words) titled A Rhymed Lesson (Urania) which you can read here. It was delivered before the Boston Mercantile Library Association on October 14, 1846. The entire 39th stanza (out of 62) says:

 

Once more: speak clearly, if you speak at all;
    Carve every word before you let it fall;
    Don't, like a lecturer or dramatic star,
    Try over-hard to roll the British R;
    Do put your accents in the proper spot;
    Don't, - let me beg you, - don't say "How?" for "What?"
    And when you stick on conversation's burs,
    Don't strew your pathway with those dreadful urs.

 

The length of that poem fits the definition for a megillah, a twentieth century slang term for:

 

“a long, involved story or account”

 

Megillah is the Hebrew word for scroll and originally was used to refer to the Old Testament Book of Esther that has 10 chapters, 167 verses, and 5,637 words.  It explains how the feast of Purim came to be celebrated. 

 

The 1879 portrait of Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. came from Wikimedia Commons.