12 October 2011

John Greenleaf Whittier in Amesbury, Massachusetts: Literary New England #1

After visiting the Quaker poet John Greenleaf Whittier's birthplace and early home in Haverhill, Massachusetts, it seemed only logical to visit his second home (this time in Amesbury, also in Massachusetts). Pity it's only open on Saturdays, though.

'WHITTIER'S HOME

1836 - 1892'

'HOME OF

JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER

HAS BEEN DESIGNATED A
REGISTERED NATIONAL
HISTORIC MONUMENT

UNDER THE PROVISION OF THE
THE HISTORIC SITES ACT OF AUGUST 21, 1935

THIS SITE POSSESSES EXCEPTIONAL VALUE
IN COMMEMORATING AND ILLUSTRATING
THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

1963'

Although Union Cemetery in Amesbury is quite large, it's not difficult to find Whittier's grave: just drive around for at the most a few minutes, and you're bound to find 'The Whittier Path'.

There, a tall sign announces 'HERE LIES WHITTIER'.

And this is a repetition of the words on his grave.

At the side of the grave, someone had placed a bottle of beer named 'Whittier White' from a brewery in Haverhill, the label of which bears a quotation from the poet.

On Main Street is a memorial both to Whittier and to Captain Valentine Bagley. Bagley was shipwrecked off Arabia and nearly died of thirst. He swore to God that if he ever returned safely home he would build a well so that no one passing would suffer thirst as he had. The well here has the same foundations that Bagley built when he returned home.

Whittier was impressed by the story so much that he wrote a poem about it entitled 'The Captain's Well'. The monument shows a representation of Bagley with a quotation from the poem at both sides.

Captain Valentine Bagley.

'AND IF EVER I REACH
       MY HOME AGAIN
WHERE EARTH HAS SPRINGS,
       AND THE SKY HAS RAIN
I WILL DIG A WELL
       FOR THE PASSERS-BY.
AND NONE SHALL SUFFER
       FROM THIRST AS I.'
 

'NOW THE LORD BE THANKED
I AM BACK AGAIN
WHERE EARTH HAS SPRINGS
       AND THE SKIES HAVE RAIN
AND THE WELL I PROMISED
       BY OMAN'S SEA,
I AM DIGGING FOR HIM
       IN AMESBURY.'

Leonard Craske executed the monument, which has two seats and a wall.

Plus a modern drinking water fountain.

Another monument to Whittier is the John Greenleaf Whittier Bridge between Amesbury and Newburyport over the Merrimack River. By this stands a commemoration of the occasion:

'THIS BRIDGE
ERECTED BY THE
COMMONWEALTH
OF MASSACHUSETTS
1954
IS DEDICATED TO HONOR
JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER
1807 - 1892
POET AND ABOLITIONIST
WHOSE HOME WAS FOR FIFTY-SIX YEARS
IN AMESBURY


Our Lord and Master of us all
What e'er our name of sign
We own Thy sway, we fear Thy call
We test our lives by Thine.
* * * * *
CHRISTIAN A. HERTER
GOVERNOR
JOHN A. VOLPE
COMMISSIONER
OF
PUBLIC WORKS'

No comments: