William Hughes Mearns (original) (raw)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

(Redirected from Hughes Mearns)

American poet

Hughes Mearns
Born William Hughes Mearns(1875-09-28)September 28, 1875Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US
Died March 13, 1965(1965-03-13) (aged 89)Bearsville, New York, US
Alma mater Harvard UniversityUniversity of Pennsylvania
Occupations Educator, poet
Spouse Mabel Gledhill Fagley
Children 1

William Hughes Mearns (1875–1965), better known as Hughes Mearns, was an American educator and poet. A graduate of Harvard University and the University of Pennsylvania, Mearns is remembered as the author of the poem "Antigonish" (or "The Little Man Who Wasn't There"). However, his ideas about encouraging the natural creativity of children, particularly those age 3 through 8, were novel at the time. It has been written about him that, "He typed notes of their conversations; he learned how to make them forget there was an adult around; never asked them questions and never showed surprise no matter what they did or said."[1][2]

Mearns was a professor at the Philadelphia School of Pedagogy from 1905 to 1920. Starting in 1920, he served as head of the Lincoln School Teachers College at Columbia University.[3] He was a proponent of John Dewey's work in progressive education.[3]

Mearns wrote two influential books: Creative Youth 1925[4] and Creative Power 1929.[5] Essayist Gabriel Gudding credits those books with "[lighting] a fuse" under the teaching of creative writing, influencing a generation of scholars.[6]

Mearns is credited with the well-known rhyme, composed in 1899 as a song for a play he had written called The Psyco-ed.[7] The play was performed in 1910, and the poem was first published as "Antigonish" in 1922.

Yesterday upon the stair

I met a man who wasn’t there

He wasn’t there again today

I wish, I wish he’d go away

When I came home last night at three

The man was waiting there for me

But when I looked around the hall

I couldn’t see him there at all!

Go away, go away, don’t you come back any more!

Go away, go away, and please don’t slam the door

Last night I saw upon the stair

A little man who wasn’t there

He wasn’t there again today

Oh, how I wish he’d go away

"Antigonish" (1899)[6][8][9]

Mearns also wrote many parodies of this poem, entitled Later Antigonishes, such as "Alibi":

As I was falling down the stair

I met a bump that wasn't there;

It might have put me on the shelf

Except I wasn't there myself.[10]

Mearns was born on September 28, 1875, in Philadelphia, the son of James H Mearns and Lelia Cora (née Evans).

On December 22, 1904, he married Mabel Gledhill Fagley at St Mark's Church, Philadelphia. They had a daughter.

Mearns died on March 13, 1965, in Bearsville, New York.

  1. ^ Current Biography 1940, pp. 570-72.[_full citation needed_]
  2. ^ Duff, John Carr (March 1966). "Hughes Mearns: Pioneer in Creative Education". The Clearing House. 40 (7). Taylor & Francis, Ltd.: 419–421. Retrieved June 29, 2025.
  3. ^ a b "Writing in the age of email Composition in America".
  4. ^ Mearns, Hughes (1925). Creative Youth. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, Doran & Co. Inc. Retrieved May 24, 2024.
  5. ^ Mearns, Hughes (1929). Creative Power. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, Doran & Co. Inc.
  6. ^ a b "A fatal deafness to the disenchanted". The Sydney Morning Herald. November 29, 2003.
  7. ^ Current Biography 1940, p. 571
  8. ^ Marty, Martin E. (January 23, 2017). "Carrying On or The Little Man Who Wasn't There". divinity.uchicago.edu. University of Chicago. Retrieved June 29, 2025.
  9. ^ Mearns, Hughes. "'Antigonish' or 'The Man Who Wasn't There – Audible Audiobook – Unabridged". amazon.com. SonicMovie.net. Retrieved June 29, 2025.
  10. ^ Colombo, John Robert (2000). Ghost Stories of Canada, p.47. Dundurn. ISBN 9781550029758.
  11. ^ This book is listed as a carry-over from an earlier version of this article, but it has not been found in any library