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June Cleaving

William Cullen Bryant selected the month of his death: I gazed upon the glorious sky    And the green mountains round And thought, that when I came to lie    Within the…
Bill Kauffman
June 10, 2010

William Cullen Bryant selected the month of his death:

I gazed upon the glorious sky

   And the green mountains round

And thought, that when I came to lie

   Within the silent ground,

‘Twere pleasant, that in flowery June,

When brooks sent up a cheerful tune,

   And groves a joyous sound,

The sexton’s hand, my grave to make,

The rich, green mountain turf should break.

     He got his wish, dying on June 12, 1878. Be careful what you hope for.

     In happier poetical June news, I’ve just received my friend Stephen Lewandowski’s latest chapbook, O Lucky One (http://foothillspublishing.com/2010/id57.htm). Steve, whose work has been praised by Ted Kooser, among many others, protects watersheds and poetizes his native Finger Lakes region of New York. Wry, rooted, and rather melancholy–check him out.

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A stack of three Local Culture journals and the book 'Localism in the Mass Age'

Bill Kauffman

Bill Kauffman is the author of eleven books, among them Dispatches from the Muckdog Gazette (Henry Holt), Ain’t My America (Metropolitan), Look Homeward, America (ISI), and Poetry Night at the Ballpark (FPR Books). His next book, Upstaters, is due from SUNY Press in 2026. He is a columnist for The American Conservative and The Spectator World. Bill wrote the screenplay for the 2013 feature film Copperhead. He is a founding editor of Front Porch Republic and has served as a legislative assistant to Senator Pat Moynihan, editor for various magazines and publishers, and vice president of the Batavia Muckdogs, a professional baseball team that was euthanized by Major League Baseball. He lives with his wife Lucine in his native Genesee County, New York.

2 comments

  • Bill Kauffman
    15 years ago

    Wise move, Clark. Poor Bryant was buried in Long Island anyway, far from his Berkshires.

  • Clark
    15 years ago

    I find WCB’s arguments compelling, but I think I will try to hold on for at least another month.

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