Show Me the Place, 89

“Show me the place.”

Duke Senior in As You Like It (2.1)

89: Lafayette Square; a home of Flannery O’Connor; Savannah, Georgia; June 4, 2003

A sort of island is this square—

Savannah is the town

Where Flannery O’Connor grew—

Before her great renown.

An island beautiful, this is—

The homes, the church, the streets.

A peaceful place, where birds can rule—

They are the true elites!

We visited—a gorgeous day—

And saw where she had been—

The birth of possibility—

Just cue the violin!

Show Me the Place, 88

“Show me the place.”

Duke Senior in As You Like It (2.1)

88: Andalusia, the Home of Flannery O’Connor; Milledgeville, Georgia; June 12, 2004

Both Joyce and I love Flannery—

We’ve read her works from first to last.

And so it was we went to see

Her farm in Georgia—saw the past.

We toured the farm—the farmhouse, too.

And saw the place where she would write.

We felt the heat—enjoyed her view—

Were grateful for her special light.

We both taught works by Flannery—

And loved the questions that arose

From students—all the repartee—

And reveled in her priceless prose.

Show Me the Place, 87

“Show me the place.”

Duke Senior in As You Like It (2.1)

87: Portland, Maine—Henry Wadsworth Longfellow House; Spring 2002

I drove one year to Portland, Maine—

I guess I really should explain:

I’d gone to see another place

Where Longfellow had left a trace—

An early home—a museum now—

Such fame results in this somehow.

A famous poem takes place there—

It’s “My Lost Youth,” and (if you care)

I’ve memorized it—took a while—

But now it’s in my memory file!

Link to poem.

Show Me the Place, 86

“Show me the place.”

Duke Senior in As You Like It (2.1)

86: Byhalia, Mississippi, and William Faulkner; June 14, 2004

We found the place where Faulkner went

To “dry out” one more time.*

The alcohol he loved to drink

Had shortened Faulkner’s prime.

There’s not much left to show where he

Had tried to be more dry.

But it was far too late for him:

The time had come to die.

*the former Wright's Sanitarium; Faulkner died there on July 6, 1962--heart attack.

Show Me the Place, 85

“Show me the place.”

Duke Senior in As You Like It (2.1)

85: The Road from As I Lay Dying; near Oxford, Mississippi; June 13, 2004

We drove the road that Faulkner used—

The road the Bundrens took

In one of Faulkner’s oddest tales—

Perhaps you’ve read the book?*

There were more hills than I had thought—

The river, calmer, though.

But it remains so rural that

You still feel Faulkner’s glow.

I taught that book a decade, and

Each time I learned new things.

A great book is eternal and

New gifts it ever brings.

*As I Lay Dying, 1930

Show Me the Place, 84

“Show me the place.”

Duke Senior in As You Like It (2.1)

84: Rowan Oak, home of William Faulkner; Oxford, Mississippi; June 13, 2004

We toured the home called Rowan Oak,

Where Faulkner lived—and where he wrote.

He loved to drink; he loved to smoke—

To write those lines that many quote.

Success and sadness formed his life—

His demons were such puissant ones.

He cheated—yes, betrayed his wife.

They had two daughters,* had no sons.

He later won the Nobel Prize

For stunning novels (sometimes weird).

His work still lives in current eyes

As so unique—and much revered.

*His wife brought two of her own daughters to the marriage; Faulkner and his wife had two: Jill and Alabama; the latter died just days after birth.

Show Me the Place, 83

“Show me the place.”

Duke Senior in As You Like It (2.1)

83: Thomas Paine—Various Sites (Bordentown, NJ, June 2009; New Rochelle, NY, September 2009)

He wrote those pamphlets—helped the cause:

The Revolutionary War.

He’d learned what words could do—were for—

And wrote for years, with little pause.

His Common Sense became the first

Best-seller in our history.

His words still resonate with me—

And some are like a rocket’s burst.

We saw a home—a statue, too.

We saw his grave (though he’s not there—

His body? No one’s sure just where.)

I prize his gift to me and you.

Show Me the Place, 82

“Show me the place.”

Duke Senior in As You Like It (2.1)

82: House of Ralph Waldo Emerson; Concord, Mass.; July 11, 2002

We toured the house where Emerson

Had lived and written classic things —

His essays, poems. When he’d done,

He had an oeuvre that still sings.

The house itself contained so much

That he had owned so long ago.

His furniture and books and stuff—

The place seemed timeless (though not so).

Oh, what a town was Concord then!

The Alcotts and, of course, Thoreau.

The blazing talents that long have been

Important for us all to know.

Show Me the Place, 81

“Show me the place.”

Duke Senior in As You Like It (2.1)

81: The Mount; Lenox, Mass.; home of Edith Wharton, 1902-11

We’ve seen The Mount, oh, several times*—

My folks lived quite nearby.

It’s not exactly like our house—

One glance will show you why.

But Edith Wharton in that house

Could write with fluid art.

She found a way to blend the best—

That mix of mind and heart.

*pics from July 17, 2002

Show Me the Place, 80

“Show me the place.”

Duke Senior in As You Like It (2.1)

80: Cummington, Mass.—Wm. Cullen Bryant; July 10, 2002

To Cummington we drove that day

To see where Bryant once had been.

We walked around outside—the way

You do when something’s closed—and when

You really have no other choice.

The day was gorgeous—fair and blue—

And so it was that Dan and Joyce

Again did what they love to do.

We also knew that Cummington

Was home to Richard Wilbur,** too—

A poet very bright—and one

Whose lines were pure and clear and true.

*William Cullen Bryant, journalist and poet, 1794–1878

**Wilbur, 1921–2017

Show Me the Place, 79

“Show me the place.”

Duke Senior in As You Like It (2.1)

79: Walden Pond; Concord, Mass.; July 17, 2002

We strolled the places he had walked—

We saw, we thought, we looked, we talked.

The cabin’s gone—a new one’s there

To show the curious how and where

Thoreau had tried to simplify

His life (of course, his book tells why).

We met while studying Thoreau*—

So how on earth could we not go

To see where (sort of) love began—

That love between young Joyce and Dan!

*grad school course in American Transcendentalism, Kent State University, Summer 1969

Show Me the Place, 78

“Show me the place.”

Duke Senior in As You Like It (2.1)

78: Poe House; Poe Park; Bronx, NY; July 2003

The final house* for Edgar Poe

Still stands there in a park**—

A park that now is named for him—

A house so plain, so stark.

His wife died here at 24–

And Poe then fell apart.

He ran to other women then—

Despite his fractured heart.

But alcohol soon did him in—

He died in Baltimore.

Just forty years he’d lived on earth

Before life closed the door.

*1846–49

**Poe Park

Show Me the Place, 77

“Show me the place.”

Duke Senior in As You Like It (2.1)

77: Poe House; Philadelphia, Penn.; July 17, 2002

Another simple place he dwelt*—

The poverty he long had known—

How awful it most surely felt—

To have such talent—hear him groan!

He worked so hard—he wrote so much—

But fortune never dwelt with Poe.

He owned so little (clothes and such)—

And yet he surely had to know

His talent should have brought him more.

Instead, he lived in poverty—

And grew depressed, clear to the core.

Such lives should humble you and me.

*1838–44; they rented rooms here