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Ella Higginson’s “Four-Leaf Clover” was her most popular work. It was widely reprinted during her lifetime and and is often reprinted today. It is sometimes incorrectly attributed to Emily Dickinson. The poem first appeared in 1890 in West Shore magazine (Portland, Oregon).
“Four-Leaf Clover” appeared on postcards, bookmarks, paper weights, greeting cards, and other ephemera. “Four-Leaf Clover” printed and signed by Ella Higginson, courtesy of the Ella Higginson Papers, Center for Pacific Northwest Studies, Heritage Resources, Western Washington University, Bellingham Washington.
In 1909, US President William Howard Taft shook hands with a little boy who a few days later came down with measles. The nation became concerned for Taft’s health. Enter Higginson’s “Four-Leaf Clover”:
This April 24, 1909 article from the Evening Star (Washington, D.C.), reports that Higginson sent Taft a copy of one of her books with the last two stanzas of “Four-Leaf Clover” written on the inside cover. She included an actual four-leaf clover in an effort to ensure his health.
The incident was mentioned the next day in the New York Tribune:
This book has not yet been located. Robert Taft, grandson of William Howard Taft and former governor of Ohio, does not believe the book stayed in the family. The book is not held at the William Howard Taft National Historic Site in Ohio or the Library of Congress. Its location remains a mystery for now.
“Four- Leaf Clover” was set to music by well-known composers and performed around the world.
A musical composition by Charles Willeby inspired by “Four-Leaf Clover.”
“Four-Leaf Clover” as it appears in Higginson’s Four-Leaf Clover, 1901.