When one thinks of poetry in Washington, DC, I
suppose one of the least likely places one would turn to would be the White
House. But surprisingly some of the residents of the White House dabbled in
poetry at some point in their life.
George Washington wrote about the throes of love in
his teenage years, but then many people attempt this during this period of
their life. Fortunately for us the Library of Congress has kept track of most of these endeavors.
Here is the
beginnings of an acrostic Washington might have written about Frances
Alexander. But it’s important to note that some scholars believe Washington
might have lifted it from an undetermined source.
From your bright sparkling Eyes,
I was undone
Rays, you have, more transparent
than the sun,
Amidst its glory in the rising
Day,
None can you equal in your bright
array;
Constant in your calm and
unspotted Mind;
Equal to all, but will to none
Prove kind,
So knowing, seldom one so Young,
you’l Find
Ah! woe’s me that I should Love
and conceal,
Long have I wish’d, but never
dare reveal,
Even though severely Loves Pains
I feel;
Xerxes that great, was’t free
from Cupids Dart,
And all the greatest Heroes, felt
the smart.
I wasn’t surprised to read that Thomas Jefferson
wrote some poetry; certainly he was well read. Here below is “A death-bed
Adieu” which he wrote in bed during his final days of illness in 1826 for his
daughter Martha Randolph.
“A
death-bed Adieu. Th:J to MR.”
Life’s visions are vanished, it’s
dreams are no more.
Dear friends of my bosom, why
bathed in tears?
I go to my fathers; I welcome the
shore,
which crowns all my hopes, or
which buries my cares.
Then farewell my dear, my lov’d
daughter, Adieu!
The last pang in life is in
parting from you.
Two Seraphs await me, long
shrouded in death;
I will bear them your love on my
last parting breath.
James Madison wrote political satire in poetic form
while he was at the College of New Jersey which is currently Princeton
University. Madison’s poems are recorded in William Bradford’s notebook for the
American Whig Society.
John Quincy Adams wrote poetry throughout his life
and stated: “Could I have chosen my own genius and condition, I would have made
myself a great poet.” Of course, this ambition escaped him, even though he
attempted the art in different forms from secular verse to hymns and adapted the Psalms. After his death, Senators Thomas
Hart Benton and John Davis, who served as editors, collected and published
Adams’ poetry in a volume titled “Poems of Religion and Society” (1848). Even
Ralph Waldo Emerson included a poem by Adams titled “The Wants of Man” in his
collection of poetry titled “Parnassus.”
Poetry is for lovers. Perhaps? John Tyler who
courted and eventually married Julia Gardiner wrote and refined a ballad titled
“Sweet Lady, Awake! A Serenade.” Once married in the White House, his wife
Julia set the ballad to music. During his lifetime, he shared his poetry with friends
and family, and poetry served as a balm for difficult periods of his life.
Abraham Lincoln was also a serious reader of poetry
and wrote poetry as a teenager, mostly between fifteen and seventeen. Between
1837-39, Lincoln participated in a group called “a Kind of Poetical Society”
where he often submitted poems; however, none have survived. But James Matheny,
Lincoln’s Springfield neighbor, recalls this off-color stanza:
Whatever Spiteful fools may Say—
Each jealous, ranting yelper—
No woman ever played the whore
Unless She had a man to help her.
It appears that even during the
Civil War, poetry kept Lincoln amused, as a verse which documents the North’s
victory in the Battle of Gettysburg was written on July 18, 1863 and is in the
collection titled “The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln. Supplement,
1832-1865 (Westport, Conn: Greeenwood Press, 1974).
Then it appears we have a long
stretch without any poetry written by USA presidents until Jimmy Carter.
President Carter is the first president to have written a novel titled “The
Hornet’s Nest” (Simon & Schuster, 2003) as well as a collection of poetry
titled “Always a Reckoning, and Other Poems” (New York: Times Books, 1995).
However, Carter’s poetry is not well regarded and Yale Professor Harold Bloom
stated that Carter is “literally the worst poet in the United States.”
Our current President Barack
Obama has also dabbled in poetry while at Occidental College where he wrote two
poems “Pop” and “Underground” in the 1982 issue of “Feast.” Though President
Obama hasn’t kept up his poetry writing, he has incorporated poetry in
presidential events such as his inaugurations as did President Kennedy, but
President Obama has also had poetry events at the White House.
It’s fitting that President Obama
stated on April 17, 2015:
“Poetry matters. Poetry, like all
art, gives shape and texture and depth of meaning to our lives. It helps us
know the world. It helps us understand ourselves. It helps us understand
others, their struggles, their joys, the ways that they see the world. It helps
us connect…
I think it’s fair to say that if
we didn’t have poetry that this would be a pretty barren world. In fact, it’s
not clear that we would survive without poetry.”
Now that is poetry to my ears!!
