April is National Poetry Month - And we're still trying to Make Sense of the Civil War...

So, you may know April is National Poetry Month—not only that, but this month, Lowell continues its observance of the sesquicentennial of the American Civil War with an exciting photography exhibit "Lowell Remembers The Civil War 1861-1865" over at the Patrick J. Mogan Cultural Center. You'll want to mark your calendars for the opening reception featuring a lecture by Richard P. Howe, Jr. "Making Sense of the Civil War" Sunday, April 15 from 2-4pm.

The exhibit features the photographic talents of our own reference librarian Tony Sampas. Tony has graciously let me post one of the featured pictures here. The photo depicts the Pollard's piece of the ironside Monitor—available for viewing on the 1st floor landing of the Grand Staircase—ironically enough, right next to our National Poetry Month display. I thought it might be nice to pair with Oliver Wendell Holmes' "Old Ironsides" poem and Tony agreed. So Enjoy! (exclamation point emphatically used on purpose! in the spirit of the poem!)

Old Ironsides

Ay, tear her tattered ensign down!

Long has it waved on high,

And many an eye has danced to see

That banner in the sky;

Beneath it rung the battle shout,

And burst the cannon's roar;—

The meteor of the ocean air

Shall sweep the clouds no more!

Her deck, once red with heroes' blood

Where knelt the vanquished foe,

When winds were hurrying o'er the flood

And waves were white below,

No more shall feel the victor's tread,

Or know the conquered knee;—

The harpies of the shore shall pluck

The eagle of the sea!

O better that her shattered hulk

Should sink beneath the wave;

Her thunders shook the mighty deep,

And there should be her grave;

Nail to the mast her holy flag,

Set every thread-bare sail,

And give her to the god of storms,—

The lightning and the gale!

—Oliver Wendell Holmes (1809-1894)

For The Union Dead

Robert Gould Shaw memorial on the Boston Common

It's still National Poetry Month! So, in anticipation of tomorrow night's Lowell Film Festival opening selection: "Glory" -- a film that tells the story of Colonel Robert Gould Shaw's all black Union regiment (Massachusetts 54th) -- I thought we'd share a selection from Robert Lowell's poem "For The Union Dead."

Written in 1960, Lowell's poem vividly describes the Shaw monument on Boston Common and is itself an interesting meditation on monuments in general, the impact of war, and the toll of loss. The full poem is available here and well worth reading.

from For The Union Dead

Two months after marching through Boston,

half the regiment was dead;

at the dedication,

William James could almost hear the bronze Negroes breathe.

Their monument sticks like a fishbone

in the city's throat.

Its Colonel is as lean

as a compass-needle.

He has an angry wrenlike vigilance,

a greyhound's gentle tautness;

he seems to wince at pleasure,

and suffocate for privacy.

He is out of bounds now. He rejoices in man's lovely,

peculiar power to choose life and die--

when he leads his black soldiers to death,

he cannot bend his back.

On a thousand small town New England greens,

the old white churches hold their air

of sparse, sincere rebellion; frayed flags

quilt the graveyards of the Grand Army of the Republic.

The stone statues of the abstract Union Soldier

grow slimmer and younger each year--

wasp-wasted, they doze over muskets

and muse through their sideburns....

Shaw's father wanted no monument

except the ditch,

where his son's body was thrown

and lost with his "niggers."

The ditch is nearer.

There are no statues for the last war here;

--Robert Lowell

Lowell Film Fest Trailer

Don't forget to take in all you can of this free annual film fest hitting various locations in Lowell (including the Pollard or should I say "Memorial Hall") next week April 28th-30th. Full schedule of films, tours and related events available at the film festival website. See you there!