9 20 5655 https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/sjcdigitalarchives/original/8d8493ed0c1f9f750130944779e4b8a1.jpg f8f8b99ce1137d8587c8978435cc356d Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Image Collection—Annapolis Description An account of the resource The Greenfield Library Image Collection houses over 5,000 photographs, postcards, drawings, and other graphic materials. The images in the collection document the history, academic, and community life of St. John’s College. To learn more about the Greenfield Library's archives use policy or to obtain high-resolution images, please see the <a title="Image Collection Use Policy" href="http://www.sjc.edu/academic-programs/libraries/greenfield-library/policies/#photographicarchivepolicy" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Library’s Image Collection Use Policy</a>. Click on <a title="Photographic Archives" href="http://digitalarchives.sjc.edu/items/browse?collection=7">Items in the Image Collection—Annapolis Collection</a> to view and sort all items in the collection. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available St. John's College Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource St. John's College Greenfield Library Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Annapolis, MD Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context imagecollectionannapolis Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Physical Dimensions The actual physical size of the original image 25.5 x 20.5 cm. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Photograph Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context SJC-P-0891 Title A name given to the resource A Music Concert in Iglehart Hall Description An account of the resource 1 photographic print : b&w Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource The Irwins Subject The topic of the resource Iglehart Hall (St. John's College, Annapolis, MD) Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Annapolis, MD Type The nature or genre of the resource Still Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource jpeg Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource St. John's College owns the rights to this photograph. Iglehart Hall https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/sjcdigitalarchives/original/2ec5b623b1ad3d3d11d337dc42df2d9c.jpg 4da155256a141a23cfd747d4544f8882 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Image Collection—Annapolis Description An account of the resource The Greenfield Library Image Collection houses over 5,000 photographs, postcards, drawings, and other graphic materials. The images in the collection document the history, academic, and community life of St. John’s College. To learn more about the Greenfield Library's archives use policy or to obtain high-resolution images, please see the <a title="Image Collection Use Policy" href="http://www.sjc.edu/academic-programs/libraries/greenfield-library/policies/#photographicarchivepolicy" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Library’s Image Collection Use Policy</a>. Click on <a title="Photographic Archives" href="http://digitalarchives.sjc.edu/items/browse?collection=7">Items in the Image Collection—Annapolis Collection</a> to view and sort all items in the collection. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available St. John's College Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource St. John's College Greenfield Library Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Annapolis, MD Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context imagecollectionannapolis Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Physical Dimensions The actual physical size of the original image 25.5 x 20.5 cm. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Photograph Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context SJC-P-0892 Title A name given to the resource A Music Concert in Iglehart Hall Description An account of the resource 1 photographic print : b&w Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource The Irwins Subject The topic of the resource Iglehart Hall (St. John's College, Annapolis, MD) Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Annapolis, MD Type The nature or genre of the resource Still Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource jpeg Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource St. John's College owns the rights to this photograph. Iglehart Hall https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/sjcdigitalarchives/original/edffa4e9df32758d8f2e4a4146379e64.jpg ef6d015ff650a295703d9e8317b98580 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Image Collection—Annapolis Description An account of the resource The Greenfield Library Image Collection houses over 5,000 photographs, postcards, drawings, and other graphic materials. The images in the collection document the history, academic, and community life of St. John’s College. To learn more about the Greenfield Library's archives use policy or to obtain high-resolution images, please see the <a title="Image Collection Use Policy" href="http://www.sjc.edu/academic-programs/libraries/greenfield-library/policies/#photographicarchivepolicy" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Library’s Image Collection Use Policy</a>. Click on <a title="Photographic Archives" href="http://digitalarchives.sjc.edu/items/browse?collection=7">Items in the Image Collection—Annapolis Collection</a> to view and sort all items in the collection. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available St. John's College Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource St. John's College Greenfield Library Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Annapolis, MD Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context imagecollectionannapolis Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Physical Dimensions The actual physical size of the original image 25.5 x 20.5 cm. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Photograph Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context SJC-P-0893 Title A name given to the resource A Music Concert with Band in Iglehart Hall Description An account of the resource 1 photographic print : b&w Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource The Irwins Subject The topic of the resource Iglehart Hall (St. John's College, Annapolis, MD) Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Annapolis, MD Type The nature or genre of the resource Still Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource jpeg Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource St. John's College owns the rights to this photograph. Iglehart Hall https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/sjcdigitalarchives/original/32d5812c76e3158c4a4623a5419d053a.jpg be74033539c85194999354ee7809fc2e Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Image Collection—Annapolis Description An account of the resource The Greenfield Library Image Collection houses over 5,000 photographs, postcards, drawings, and other graphic materials. The images in the collection document the history, academic, and community life of St. John’s College. To learn more about the Greenfield Library's archives use policy or to obtain high-resolution images, please see the <a title="Image Collection Use Policy" href="http://www.sjc.edu/academic-programs/libraries/greenfield-library/policies/#photographicarchivepolicy" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Library’s Image Collection Use Policy</a>. Click on <a title="Photographic Archives" href="http://digitalarchives.sjc.edu/items/browse?collection=7">Items in the Image Collection—Annapolis Collection</a> to view and sort all items in the collection. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available St. John's College Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource St. John's College Greenfield Library Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Annapolis, MD Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context imagecollectionannapolis Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Physical Dimensions The actual physical size of the original image 25.5 x 20.5 cm. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Photograph Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context SJC-P-0896 Title A name given to the resource A Music Concert with Band in Iglehart Hall Description An account of the resource 1 photographic print : b&w Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource The Irwins Subject The topic of the resource Iglehart Hall (St. John's College, Annapolis, MD) Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Annapolis, MD Type The nature or genre of the resource Still Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource jpeg Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource St. John's College owns the rights to this photograph. Iglehart Hall https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/sjcdigitalarchives/original/ebe61e29dabfbd28bfc6a0dc8828444f.pdf fdf49df852ecb226aac5bf8837f2d770 PDF Text Text The Modern Theatre Group of St. John's College presents A Night of AMERICAN THEATRE "THE AMERICAN DREAM" By EDWARD ALBEE "INTERVIEW" By JEAN-CLAUDE VAN ITALLIE Inside "BOX" By EDWARD ALBEE — One Performance Only — SATURDAY, MAY 13th — 8:00 P.M. FRANCIS SCOTT KEY AUDITORIUM ST. JOHN'S COLLEGE Adults: $2.00 Students: $1.00 St. John's Community — FREE �May 13, 1972 PSK Auditorium The Modern Theatre Group of St. John's College presents A NIGHT OF AMERICAN THEATRE "Interview" by Jean-Claude van Itallie "The American Dream" by Edward Albee Directed by Christopher Chase Directed by Charles R. Brown, Jr. Cast Cast 1st 1st 2nd 2nd 3rd 3rd 4th 4th Moihmyvt * • vi vBrooke Harris Daddy., ,li», s.Alvin Aronson Grandma*.Christel Stevens Mrs Barker;. aiDeborah Ross Young Maru Tom Ewing Interviewer Nancy Coiner Applicant Roger Ray Interviewer Jim Jarvis Applicant JoAnn Mollin Interviewer Deborah Kahn Applicant Dana Netherton Interviewer Lee Elkins Applicant....Robin Kowalchuk Inside "Box" by Edward Albee Box People Charles Post, Leslie Starr, McKee Lee, Wesley Uemura Sound:David Deever Voice: Bubbles Bailey Lighting: Dennis Sheret Crew: Irving Hatton Lee Williams, David Deever, Douglas Anthony, Oxo Whitney, Robin Chalek, Christel Stevens, Kathy Fecrier, The Girl with the Rabbit, Earle "No Neck" Williams, Steve Key, McKee Lee, David Shipman, Frank 0. American, Lester Silver Music: Dick Dailey and the Dreamboats Executive Producer: Alvin Aronson Thanks to all unnamed but not forgotten. �S 4 UP 7) (J /to rrw � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Playbills & Programs Description An account of the resource Playbills and programs from various St. John's College events. Many of these items are from productions by The King William Players, the St. John's student theater troupe. Click on <a title="Playbills & Programs" href="http://digitalarchives.sjc.edu/items/browse?collection=20">Items in the Playbills & Programs Collection</a> to view and sort all items in the collection. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Annapolis, MD Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource St. John's College Greenfield Library Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context playbillsprograms Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Page numeration Number of pages in the original item. 3 pages Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data paper Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource A Night of American Theatre Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1972-05-13 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Bx2-08 Description An account of the resource Program of the Modern Theatre Group's performance of "A Night of American Theatre" Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Annapolis, MD Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available St. John's College Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource text Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource St. John's College owns the rights to this publication. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource pdf https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/sjcdigitalarchives/original/71482100972c64d3d0562f6175633c20.mp3 20c9e4a534125376b9bdf90b5fb28118 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource St. John's College Lecture Recordings—Santa Fe Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource St. John's College Meem Library Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Santa Fe, NM Sound A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data wav Duration Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.) 00:53:37 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource A page of Kepler Description An account of the resource Audio recording of a lecture given on February 17, 2017 by Bill Donahue as part of the Dean's Lecture and Concert Series. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Donahue, William H. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available St. John's College Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Santa Fe, NM Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2017-02-17 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Meem Library has been given permission to make this item available online. Type The nature or genre of the resource sound Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource mp3 Subject The topic of the resource Kepler, Johannes, 1571-1630. Astronomia nova. English Language A language of the resource English Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 20014364 Friday night lecture https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/sjcdigitalarchives/original/50a009f34d9730ea9e280726026f5440.jpg 6c67d116fd3267926b2ef01c6a59d7c5 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Image Collection—Annapolis Description An account of the resource The Greenfield Library Image Collection houses over 5,000 photographs, postcards, drawings, and other graphic materials. The images in the collection document the history, academic, and community life of St. John’s College. To learn more about the Greenfield Library's archives use policy or to obtain high-resolution images, please see the <a title="Image Collection Use Policy" href="http://www.sjc.edu/academic-programs/libraries/greenfield-library/policies/#photographicarchivepolicy" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Library’s Image Collection Use Policy</a>. Click on <a title="Photographic Archives" href="http://digitalarchives.sjc.edu/items/browse?collection=7">Items in the Image Collection—Annapolis Collection</a> to view and sort all items in the collection. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available St. John's College Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource St. John's College Greenfield Library Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Annapolis, MD Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context imagecollectionannapolis Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Physical Dimensions The actual physical size of the original image 12.5 x 9 cm. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Photograph Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context SJC-P-2307 Title A name given to the resource A Pair of Glasses Resting on an Elements of Music Freshman Music Workbook Description An account of the resource 1 photographic print : b&w Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1991 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Unknown Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Annapolis, MD Type The nature or genre of the resource Still Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource jpeg Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource St. John's College owns the rights to this photograph. https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/sjcdigitalarchives/original/201603cbe162b46ae372d9d12efc065c.pdf 2a7b1ae38e4628ea621248532cc6fbb8 PDF Text Text �� Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource St. John's College Lecture Transcripts—Santa Fe Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource St. John's College Meem Library Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Santa Fe, NM Description An account of the resource Items in this collection are part of a series of lectures given every year at St. John's College at the Santa Fe, NM campus. Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data paper Page numeration Number of pages in the original item. 29 pages Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource A parable of scandal : speculations about the "wheat and the tares" Description An account of the resource Transcript of a lecture given in 1997 by John Cornell. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Cornell, John F. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available St. John's College Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Santa Fe, NM Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1997 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Meem Library has been given permission to make this item available online. Type The nature or genre of the resource text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource pdf Subject The topic of the resource Bible. Matthew -- Criticism, interpretation, etc. Parables Language A language of the resource English Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 24003292 https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/sjcdigitalarchives/original/c94ecdf88915b203d06e2c367005f941.jpg f060e4200bcf46c0bd74705d35eeb6d5 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Image Collection—Annapolis Description An account of the resource The Greenfield Library Image Collection houses over 5,000 photographs, postcards, drawings, and other graphic materials. The images in the collection document the history, academic, and community life of St. John’s College. To learn more about the Greenfield Library's archives use policy or to obtain high-resolution images, please see the <a title="Image Collection Use Policy" href="http://www.sjc.edu/academic-programs/libraries/greenfield-library/policies/#photographicarchivepolicy" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Library’s Image Collection Use Policy</a>. Click on <a title="Photographic Archives" href="http://digitalarchives.sjc.edu/items/browse?collection=7">Items in the Image Collection—Annapolis Collection</a> to view and sort all items in the collection. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available St. John's College Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource St. John's College Greenfield Library Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Annapolis, MD Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context imagecollectionannapolis Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Physical Dimensions The actual physical size of the original image 16.5 x 15 cm. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Drawing Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context SJC-P-1835 Title A name given to the resource A Pen and Ink Drawing of McDowell Hall with Cupola Description An account of the resource 1 pen-and-ink drawing : b&w Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Unknown Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Annapolis, MD Type The nature or genre of the resource Still Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource jpeg Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource St. John's College owns the rights to this photograph. McDowell Hall https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/sjcdigitalarchives/original/ed5a91bacc1429083b07eed693219be0.jpg 816c5d96a81ec0beba7c39c57198265a Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Image Collection—Annapolis Description An account of the resource The Greenfield Library Image Collection houses over 5,000 photographs, postcards, drawings, and other graphic materials. The images in the collection document the history, academic, and community life of St. John’s College. To learn more about the Greenfield Library's archives use policy or to obtain high-resolution images, please see the <a title="Image Collection Use Policy" href="http://www.sjc.edu/academic-programs/libraries/greenfield-library/policies/#photographicarchivepolicy" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Library’s Image Collection Use Policy</a>. Click on <a title="Photographic Archives" href="http://digitalarchives.sjc.edu/items/browse?collection=7">Items in the Image Collection—Annapolis Collection</a> to view and sort all items in the collection. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available St. John's College Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource St. John's College Greenfield Library Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Annapolis, MD Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context imagecollectionannapolis Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Physical Dimensions The actual physical size of the original image 25.5 x 20.5 cm. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Photograph Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context SJC-P-1180 Title A name given to the resource A Picnic on Back Campus with a Small Blonde Haired Boy, Annapolis, Maryland Description An account of the resource 1 photographic print : b&w Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1972 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Elzey, Craig C. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Annapolis, MD Type The nature or genre of the resource Still Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource jpeg Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource St. John's College owns the rights to this photograph. https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/sjcdigitalarchives/original/a1a7e40c800e067373b0ba2619140fc6.mp3 75a20e23439c3e825fb5a28076c7a498 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource St. John's College Lecture Recordings—Santa Fe Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource St. John's College Meem Library Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Santa Fe, NM Sound A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data m4a Duration Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.) 01:43:42 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource A Poetry Reading by Rita Dove Description An account of the resource Audio recording of a lecture given by Rita Dove on February 21, 2023 as part fo the Dean's Lecture & Concert Series. The Dean's Office has provided this description of the event: Rita Dove reads a selection of her poetry with commentary. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Dove, Rita Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available St. John's College Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Santa Fe, NM Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2023-02-21 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Meem Library has been given permission to make this item available online. Type The nature or genre of the resource sound Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource mp3 Language A language of the resource English Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context SF_DoveR_Poetry_Reading_2023-02-21 Friday night lecture https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/sjcdigitalarchives/original/fbdf907a16a8d7a502bf8a3253b8fe37.jpg 123bef71680f8b5cd3608118c81f649f Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Image Collection—Annapolis Description An account of the resource The Greenfield Library Image Collection houses over 5,000 photographs, postcards, drawings, and other graphic materials. The images in the collection document the history, academic, and community life of St. John’s College. To learn more about the Greenfield Library's archives use policy or to obtain high-resolution images, please see the <a title="Image Collection Use Policy" href="http://www.sjc.edu/academic-programs/libraries/greenfield-library/policies/#photographicarchivepolicy" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Library’s Image Collection Use Policy</a>. Click on <a title="Photographic Archives" href="http://digitalarchives.sjc.edu/items/browse?collection=7">Items in the Image Collection—Annapolis Collection</a> to view and sort all items in the collection. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available St. John's College Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource St. John's College Greenfield Library Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Annapolis, MD Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context imagecollectionannapolis Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Physical Dimensions The actual physical size of the original image 16.5 x 27 cm. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Print Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context SJC-P-1836 Title A name given to the resource A Print of a Sketch of McDowell Hall by F. Townsend Morgan Description An account of the resource 1 print : b&w Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Unknown Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Annapolis, MD Type The nature or genre of the resource Still Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource jpeg Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource St. John's College owns the rights to this photograph. McDowell Hall https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/sjcdigitalarchives/original/ac24fd8868984eaad5b6abf44060b9b6.pdf 9c37a0183f9094799914a5c8d29bcfb0 PDF Text Text This material may oe protected by Copyright law (Title 17 U.S. Code) A Ran1ble on Fern Hill Jonathan Tuck Tutor St. John's College, Annapolis A Lecture Given at St. John's College Santa Fe, New Mexico April 8, 1994 �I A Ramble on Fern Hill I want to do several things at once: To give a partial reading of "Fern Hill," by Dylan Thomas, and to catch myself in the act of giving such a reading in order to reflect on what it means to give a reading. When I say "give a reading," I do not mean only that I want to read the poem aloud-- although I do want to do that too-- but to give an analysis, an interpretation, an exegesis. It's interesting that the lit. crit. locution "to give a reading" should mean this: almost as if to read the poem is to analyze it, or to analyze it is only to read it. But I think there's a particular appropriateness to this locution when applied to a lyric poem: Whatever "lyric" means--and in our day it seems to mean nothing more than a pretty short poem-- its etymology suggests that we should be thinking of an utterance which is to be sung, and even accompanied by music. If the poem comes first to our ear, not our eye, it remains there in some way even through every act of cutting it up and surrounding it with commentary. The concrete presence of the sung or spoken poem unifies and holds together all the discursive particularities in an interpretation. When we interpret at length, we distance ourselves from this presence, but only temporarily: for in my experience there is no such thing as ruining a poem by analysing it. We cannot "murder to dissect"; the poem is resurrected each time we read it again. But if our act of interpreting has been fruitful, it is not the same poem now; �2 this new presence holds together more particulars, more complexities, more internal articulations. So the purpose of interpreting the poem is to be able to read it again, and also to come to know part of it for the first time. It is in this sense that I intend to "give a reading" of "Fern Hill," and to watch myself closely in order to see how I do it. In teaching lyric poems, I have found that certain students are aware of having a certain kind of "blind spot" (actually, it would be better to say a "deaf spot") when it .comes to the appreciation of poetry. They are genuinely puzzled by what others find to interest themselves in while reading a great lyric poem; and they are alarmed at having to try to write anything substantive about it. I cannot aspire to opening blind eyes or deaf ears; but I hope to try to give some practical counsel to such people about possible ways to open up what has been a closed-off area for them. They may not be able to find the same immediate appeal in poems that other readers do, but I would like them to see how a poem can be discussible. Why do I choose "Fern Hill" as the specimen for this how-to-do-it demonstration? Certainly not because it is an "easy" poem; in fact, an easy poem, whatever that is, would be exactly the wrong kind for a demonstration. My motive for choosing "Fern Hill" is alarmingly simple: I believe that it is the greatest lyric poem in the English language-- at least among those I am aware of-- and I have a kind of evangelistic zeal to share it with others and to display it as the greatest. But what on earth can I mean by the preposterous claim that "Fern Hill" is the greatest English lyric poem? It seems clear that I have yet another task: To think about what makes a poem good, or great. It is not �3 that I want you to agree with me in my evaluation of "Fern Hill"; but perhaps what makes this poem great for me is what may make some other lyric poem great for you. In the process, I want to show that "Fern Hill"'s relation to the theme of time is not accidental but is part of what makes the poem so good; that all poetry, or at least certainly all lyric poetry, is concerned with time because time is one of the conditions within which it comes to light. And this presupposes that poems are characte1istically about poetry, whatever else they are also about. This reflexive property of poems gives a clue to what kinds of things to look for in analysis, in "giving a reading": instances where the theme of the poem is somehow mirrored in the poem's form, so that in the course of being about something else, the poem can also be about itself. This is a \Vay of poems' being about poetry that is I think more substantive than the less interesting sense in which each poem necessarily redefines the possibilities of the form, genre or tradition within which it is working. In the course of "giving a reading," I am reviving into the present an entity which has two kinds of temporal extension: (1) First: At every "performance" of the poem, every reading-through of it, whether silent or aloud, I am reminding myself of the poem's emergence through time-- not only in the way that every spoken language does (since only one sound can be spoken at a time) but also in the special way that poems, by their rhythm and measurement of time units, formalize and almost spatialize repetition-- that raw temporality of language. -- through (2) Second: The other form of temporal �4 extension is the endurance through several different renditions or performances of the "same" poem-- the several often spread out over years, decades or centuries. It is in this way that a poem can be a monument more enduring than brass or stone, as Horace and many others claim. Clearly, it is problematic how these several performances "belong" to the "same" poem-- in somewhat the same way that the relation of a given production or performance to the Shakespearean text, or of a playing of a symphony to its notated form on paper, are also problematic. One might ask what sort of existence the "poem" has when it is not being "performed." Is it only potential? And why, strangely, does it show signs of having changed for us when it reemerges into actuality at our next reading? But instead of addressing these issues, I think we should make actual the particular poem we are to look at. It follows from what I've said, as well as from all of my experience with poetry that the right way to approach a poem, whether by oneself or in the company of a class, is to read it aloud initially--perhaps several times; and then, after talking about it or thinking about it, to read it aloud again, to "put it back together again." (This seems comparable to the actions of analysis & synthesis in mathematical proof.) Here,then, is my first practical counsel to those who find poetry hard to enjoy: The lyric poem, in particular, does not exist until it is read aloud, preferably several times. It is better still if you can memorize it and recite it aloud from memory--though this may come only after many oral readings . Now , in approaching "Fern Hill," there's a special condition which does not exist in approaching a poem by Donne or Keats or Shakespeare-- namely that we have a recording of Thomas himself reading his poem. �5 Should I read it myself, or play his version? And if both, when shall I do which? It seems dramatically right to start with Thomas 's reading, which, like the printed version on the page, is part of the "received" form of the poem as it comes to us. But then if time permitted, I should really read it aloud myself, as each of you should: Only in this way would the poem begin to become ours, to sound on our inner ear as we proceed to think about it. Then after analyzing it and in some way making it more fully "mine," I should read it aloud myself at the end. The hope is that the second reading aloud will contain or embody much of what is gained or learned in the intervening analysis-- contain or embody both for me the reader and for those co-readers to whom I am reading. Choosing this order reflects a literary-theoretical allegiance of my own, in favor of appropriating the artwork, making it new and making it mine, rather than trying as an archaeologist to arrive at the author's intention. So that is what I will plan to do, and here is Dylan Thomas's reading of "Fern Hill": Fern Hill Now as I was young and easy under the apple boughs About the lilting house and happy as the grass was green, The night above the dingle starry, Time let me hail and climb Golden in the heydays of his eyes, And honoured among wagons I was prince of the apple towns And once below a time I lordly had the trees and leaves Trail with daisies and barley Down the rivers of the windfall light. 5 �6 And as I was green and carefree, famous among the barns About the happy yard and singing as the farm was home, In the sun that is young once only, Time let me play and be Golden in the mercy of his means, And green and golden I was huntsman and herdsman, the calves Sang to my horn, the foxes on the hills barked clear and cold, And the sabbath rang slowly In the pebbles of the holy streams. All the sun long it was running, it was lovely, the hay Fields high as the house, the tunes from the chimneys, it was air And playing, lovely and watery And fire green as grass. And nightly under the simple stars As I rode to sleep the owls were bearing the farm away, All the moon long I heard, blessed among stables, the nightjars Flying with the ricks, and the horses Flashing into the dark. And then to awake, and the farm, like a wanderer white With the dew, come back, the cock on his shoulder: it was all Shining, it was Adam and maiden, The sky gathered again And the sun grew round that very day. So it must have been after the birth of the simple light In the first, spinning place, the spellbound horses walking warm Out of the whinnying green stable On to the fields of praise. And honoured among foxes and pheasants by the gay house Under the new made clouds and happy as the heart was long, In the sun born over and over, I ran my heedless ways, My wishes raced through the house high hay And nothing I cared, at my sky blue trades, that time allows In all his tuneful turning so few and such morning songs Before the children green and golden Follow him out of grace, Nothing I cared, in the lamb white days, that time would take me 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 �7 Up to the swallow thronged loft by the shadow of my hand, In the moon that is always rising, Nor that riding to sleep I should hear him fly with the high fields And wake to the farm forever fled from the childless land . Oh as I was young and easy in the mercy of his means, Time held me green and dying Though I sang in my chains like the sea. 50 Dylan Thomas (1914-1953) Though it's not always best for an analysis to start at the first line, or the first word, and proceed diachronically through the text, in this case I will do so, almost in despair: There is so much richness, so many logical starting places that lead straight into the heart of the poem. The poem's first two \Vords are "Now as." Each is ambiguous, and there is some connection in their ambiguities. "Now" may be sheerly a temporal indicator , in which case we must think of the poem as referring to the present time in which it is spoken by its speaker. There's a difficulty here, though, since the first line goes on to refer to the past: "Now as I was young and easy." But we might still think that the purpose of the initial "Now" is somehow to recreate or reenact the past, real or imagined, that is portrayed in most of the poem. The innocence of that past is perhaps regainable in some vicarious way; and it is true that one of the effects of the poem seems to be to make us feel the experience of Thomas's innocent childhood visits to his aunt's farm at Fernhill. But the other possible meaning of" now" is almost exactly opposite to this one: It may be a transitional particle, used to introduce an antithetical idea, as in the following imaginary statement: "As an adult I know and feel my mortality and my fallen state. �8 Now when I was a boy, I never did; I thought I would live forever." The "Now" in the poem's first line gives the utterance that is the poem a very concrete conversational context: Breaking away from the thought of how he thinks and feels at present, the speaker turns his attention to his childhood, as specifically opposed to the present. In this reading of "Now", the poem is a statement of the finality of loss, rather than an evocation of paradise regained. Of course the poem as a whole is both. My point is that the one word "now" holds together these two possibilities, containing in a small compass many of the largest themes and issues in the whole poem. We find a similar phenomenon when we look at the poem's second word, "as." What among many possibilities does "as" mean here? Even as I ask the question, I am unable to forget that the word "as" recurs in the poem, especially in constructions implying comparison or similitude: "happy as the grass was green"; "singing as the farm was home"; "the hay fields high as the house"; "fire green as grass"; "happy as the heart was long." If similes and metaphors are the essence of poetry, transforming our vision by pointing out correspondences between the world we know and some imagined, invisible one, then our consideration of the power of "as" becomes a kind of referendum on the power of poetry. Can it in fact transform our vision as it claims? Does "as I was young and easy" mean "at the time when I was young and easy"? or "because I was young and easy"? or "in the same way that I was young and easy"? or "to the same degree that I was young and easy"? or "as long, and only as long. as I was young and easy"? It is clear that each of these variant readings produces a different sense of the power of time and of the power of imagination to triumph over time. "Happy as the grass �9 was green" sounds comfy and proverbial, like "happy as the day is long" or "happy as a clam." (Actually, neither of those similes will bear much scrutiny either, will they?) Taken in this simple-minded or innocent way, the speaker means that he was happy to the same degree that the grass was green. Comparisons like this usually make use of a vehicle of comparison that is supposed to be unproblematic: "strong as an ox" means very strong because an ox by its nature is very strong. Grass is very green, but the grass by its very nature does not stay green forever; is it in the nature of things that the speaker will not stay happy forever? Only if "happy as the grass was green" also means happy in the same way that the grass was green, naturally, unreflectively-- and temporarily. Because the greenness of the grass is implicitly localized in time, it may seem diminished: That which doesn't stay green might seem to be less green, or only apparently green. Was the speaker less happy than he thought he was, only apparently happy? In this way the vehicle of the simile-- the thing used for purposes of comparison--makes more complex our notion of the tenor of the simile, the thing being compared to something. One of our readings of the ambiguous word "as" leads us to other readings: happy at the time when the grass was green, and only at that time; happy as long as the grass was green. An additional complication enters when, in the next stanza, it is not the grass but the child that is green: "as I was green and carefree." Here "green" must be able to mean not only "young, fresh" but also "inexperienced, raw, naive"-- as in the expression "greenhorn." At this point the tenor and the vehicle of our original simile have collapsed into each other: The child and the grass come together in their greenness, and perhaps we remember the words of the First Epistle General of Peter: �10 For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man is as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. (I Peter 1:24-25) We have been noticing ambiguities in the words "Now" and "as." I induce from this another practical precept for the poetry-blind: Seek out ambiguities and try to spell them out patiently and deliberately, almost literal-mindedly. Because the language of poetry has a kind of life of its own, the natural lexical range of a word is brought into play whenever that word is used. It is especially fruitful when the ambiguous readings even seem to contradict each other more or less directly: Seeing the meaning as problematic makes it possible to connect alternative meanings to different ways of feeling. I think I am assuming that language may not always be ambiguous, but feelings almost always are; so that complexities in the language may bring it closer to the reality of our feelings. Another precept for the uninitiated reader of poems: Look hard for repetitions of the same word, or the same image, or the same sound. In our case, we segued into the poem's second use of "as" from considering its first use. Part of the formality of a poem, part of its architecture, is the use of repetition; even the ideas of meter and rhyme presuppose this. But repetition is never pure, as Heraclitus and Kierkegaard remind us; it is always a re-evocation, containing both sameness and difference. Hence one of the activities of reading a poem is comparing and contrasting. Jumping back and forth in a poem to compare and contrast usages of the same word or image, holding them up together, is a way of treating the poem as a simultaneous structure rather than merely a flowing-in-time. �11 But noticing differences is a reminder that pure repetition is impossible because the poem exists in time. This kind of comparing and contrasting is the very theme of "Fern Hill": The speaker juxtaposes scenes from his past with his present altered condition, and poses the question of whether he can renew or retain his youth somehow-- perhaps through poetry itself? For this reason "Fern Hill" is extraordinarily concentrated and unified; it almost seems like pure lyricism because it both is and is about the very things that constitute the "lyric moment." Let us take our own advice and go on looking for other usages of the word "as." When we next meet a comparable phrase, in the third stanza, "fire green as grass" makes little obvious sense; fire is not typically green. The fire seems to be there in order to continue the catalogue of the elements, begun in "air/ And playing, lovely and watery." The earth would seem to be absent from this list, except that it is present everywhere, not only in the "grass" but in the fields, the pebbles in the streams, and in the whole subject at hand: "it was all ... " The lower element of earth is transformed into higher elements: the flowing water, emblematic of time's motion; air, which by a pun is also song, the "tunes from the chimneys"; and fire, highest and simplest, connected with warmth and light. We still don't see how the fire can be green; perhaps the peat or coal used in that part of Wales burns with a greenish flame? Or perhaps "green" here means "new" or "young" or "innocent," like the childhood of the narrator-- in the case of fire, "closer to the time of Creation," and therefore more elemental. (This might also help us to account for the "whinnying green stable" in line 35). Or perhaps the problematic fact that fire normall y lacks greenness makes the simile into a "dissimile," of the same negative form as that famous slogan, "A woman needs a man as a fish needs a bicycle"; and if so, �12 perhaps this problematic form of the simile is meant to cast doubt on other uses of the word "as." Let's look at some more: The hay fields were of course not as high as the house, except to the child's innocent eye, which makes things so only by the imperatives of desire: "My wishes raced through the house high hay." Listening to the sounds at the end of that line, we realize that the comparison between the hay and the house has gone from measurement into a pure exclamation of joy. Like the child's seeing, the poem's sounding has the power simply to enact its wishes. Parallel to "happy as the grass was green," in the second stanza, is the more peculiar "singing as the farm was home." It is peculiar because we would normally think that the farm either is or isn't home; unlike the greenness of grass, the farm's identity as home does not admit of quantification, which seems to eliminate some of our possible ambiguous readings. But if we are told that the farm was not, in fact, home to Thomas-- he visited there during the summers-- the eliminated variant reading comes back in a more sinister form: The boy was singing in the same way, or to the same degree, that the fann was home-- that is, only temporarily or not at all. Singing has already been attributed to the house: "the lilting house," "tunes from the chimneys." It will come again in the poem's last image, another simile: "I sang in my chains like the sea." These are "morning songs," with all the poignancy of the pun hammered home by the word "such." They are "morning songs" spelled without the "u" because they belong to youth, both the boy's youth and the youth of the world. They are "mourning songs," spelled with the "u" and with the qualifications of "such" and "so few," because even our youthful singing is an unknowing presage of our own funeral music. It is clearly not an accident that the topic of song, like the transforming power of similes, is the �13 poem's reflexive comment on poetry itself. It is not only phrases with "as" that are repeated frequently throughout the poem; one of its most prominent features is the repetition , with crucial variations, of words, images, and even whole syntactic structures. (The first two stanzas, especially, display a high degree of this syntactic parallelism.) But moving to smaller units of meaning, it is very noticeable that there is much repetition of sounds. Thomas is known as a poet for whom flashy sound effects almost take on a life of their own-- as if abstract patterns of vowel and consonant repetition could make some kind of musical pleasure for us, regardless of the meanings of the words. But in this poem at least, I think I can show that the repetitions are purposive, and that they are directly related to his theme. Look for example at the poem's beginning: "Now as I was young and easy under the wple boughs." The stressed syllables "I", "eas-", "un-" and "ap-" all alliterate, since any word beginning with a vowel alliterates with any other. "Boughs" alliterates with the "b" in "about" and assonates both with "about" and with "house." "House" alliterates with "happy," whose first syllable assonates with "grass," which alliterates with "green." The alternating links of alliteration and assonance form a chaining effect. We see it again at the end of the stanza in And once below a time I lordly had the trees and leaves Trail with daisies and barley Down the rivers of the windfall light. The purpose of this chaining of sounds, this singing in chains, is to imitate the "trailing" stream of the daisies and barley, to connect the various parts of this paradise of sense-stimuli into a single manifold of sound, or light, or time. The boy's world has a coherence that came from �14 innocence, or from his infantile perception of himself as not separated from the objects of his seeing and hearing. The unity of this world is later reflected in the third and fourth stanzas, in the poem's use of the word "it" without any obvious antecedent. And within this world, the boy also has a child's fantasies of omnipotence: It was he who had the trees and leaves trail. This omnipotence corresponds both to the power Adam and Eve are said to have had over nature while still in a state of innocence, and also to the power that the poet still has over his little created world, even in a fallen state. Through playing with patterns of vowels and consonants, Thomas too "has" the trees and leaves trail. Does this mean that poetry can restore innocence and conquer Time? But as the last line says, the poet sings in another set of chains, not of his own making. It seems clear that sound-effects can be imitative in an almost iconic way. They can act less directly as well. Notice a pattern of internal rhyme in the first stanza: Now as I was young and easy under the apple bQJJghs About the lilting house ... And again: Time let me hail and climb. In each case these internal rhymes act to frame and enclose either a line or a phrase, giving a sense of secure self-containedness and self-sufficiency. "Time let me hail and climb" is parallel with the second stanza's "Time let me play and be." The self-enclosed character of the first of these lines leads us to expect the second to be self-enclosed too-- and it seems to make sense that �15 way: Time let me play and time let me be-- either let me exist or left me alone. The word "Golden" thus comes as a shock; we had not expected that the line would be enjambed, even though "Golden" in the second stanza is parallel with the same word at the same position in the first stanza. But as it turns out, the two are not syntactically parallel: The first "Golden" is part of a parenthetical adjectival phrase, modifying "me"; the second "Golden" is a predicate adjective with "be." This difference throws into relief a difference in meaning: The "Golden" of the first stanza seems to be unambiguously favorable, while the second "Golden" carries a hint of another possibility: The speaker is not already golden, a fair-haired lad smiled on by Fortune and befriended by Time . Rather we see Time letting him be golden. From here it is not a long jump to another possible meaning of "golden," which certainly comes into play in the following line: "And green and golden I was huntsman and herdsman." Here "golden" suggests the important difference between spring and harvest time; the latter is still a prosperous, auspicious time, but it is a time of ripeness and intimations of autumn and encroaching death. We see this in the way the phrase "green and golden" develops in the fifth stanza: Before the children green and golden Follow him out of grace. The pairing of "green and golden" becomes, in the last stanza, explicitly, "green and dying . " Even in the first moments of childhood, we have started on our journey toward death; as the Clovm says in As You Like It, . .. from hour to hour we ripe and ripe And then from hour to hour we rot and rot And thereby hangs a tale. �16 (A YLI, Il.vii.25-27) As "golden" becomes "dying," as a state of ripeness or of being specially favored-- a "golden boy"-- turns into its opposite, we remember that "green" also means Hence "green and dying" comes to mean not just 11 naive or unknowing. growing and rotting" but 11 unaware of mortality, and yet mortal. 11 What defines the boy's innocence is not so much a lack of sin as a lack of knowledge, the knowledge of his own mortality. That knowledge itself is a kind of dying, as it was for Adam and Eve in the garden. Now the interplay of the images of color-- green, golden, white with the dew, sky blue, Iamb white-- is a very conspicuous feature of the poem, one that few readers are likely to miss. But my specific claim is that the use of the internal rhymes, by setting us up for the prominence of "Golden" in the second stanza, triggers our awareness of this pattern. And if so, we can educe two more precepts for the novice analyst of poetry: (1) Listen hard to the sound effects, and when in doubt, assume they are significant. (2) Look at the ends of lines, to see places where the Iineation is a way of manipulating our successive responses. We have seen two instances of unexpected enjambment, in lines 7-8 and in lines 13-14. These are the most conspicuous, but there are others. But how do we listen to the sounds of poems, and what sort of significance do we listen for? Apart from phonemic repetitions like alliteration, assonance, consonance and rhyme-- each of which may make a pattern, whether imitative or abstract, there is the clearly imitative �17 phenomenon of onomatopoeia, the "making" (poieia) through a word (onoma) of something we otherwise encounter in the world. We don't see much in this poem of sheerly imitative sound, like Tennyson's "murmur of innumerable bees." Perhaps the chaining effect I described in the first stanza can be considered an example. But there is a chronic difficulty in the attempt to read sound as directly mimetic or imitative. Take the sound pattern of line 12, "In the sun that is young once onJy." Do the repetition of the "uh" sound and the orthographic and etymological redundancy of "once only" imitate the persistence through time of a sun that is the same each day-- truly young once only-- or do these sound effects imitate the periodicity of a series of several suns, as in line 39's "the sun born over and over"? Or does the sound by its ambiguity raise for us the same question that the poem raises: How to reconcile continuity with change and repetition, the enduring infinitude of our desire with the finitude of our lives, with the passage of time? Sound repetitions can be local, within a line or a few lines, or they can be the architectonic by which the form of the poem is defined. Thomas used the unobvious measurement of syllabic count to define the pattern of his stanzas. He was steered to this choice by the precedent of the medieval Welsh technique known as cynghanedd ("king' ha neth"), which I will not even attempt to spell for you; in other words, by a precedent from a language other than English, unearthed by Thomas in a fit of Celtic historical nostalgia. In "Fern Hill," the six stanzas are of nine lines each. In the general form of the stanza, the first, second, sixth and seventh lines are of fourteen syllables each, the third and fifth lines are of nine syllables, and the fourth line is of six. (I'm guided here by Thomas's own pronunciation, which renders "fire" in line 22 as a �18 disyllable, and "blessed" in line 25 as a single syllable.) The last two lines of the stanzas vary, but in a purposive way: In the first, second and last stanzas the eighth line is seven syllables, while the ninth line is nine. In the third, fourth and fifth stanzas the eighth line is nine syllables, while the ninth line is six. In effect, the flip-flopping of the long and short lines defines two cuts in the poem, after stanza two and after stanza five. On inspection, this seems appropriate, since the result is to set off the third, fourth and fifth stanzas as a separate part. In these stanzas we are given a flashback into the particularity of the rhythm of day-night alternation as it then seemed to the young boy protagonist: In this prui of the poem, the sun is "born over and over," "green and golden" can coexist, and there is no double awareness, until the end of the fifth stanza, that only by Time's mercy does all this happen. In the last stanza we get a return to the divided perspective of the first two, in which our view of the child's innocence is mediated by our own and the poet's experience of age and mortality. The cycle of "riding to sleep" and waking, described in detail in stanzas three and. four, is recapitulated in stanza six from a different viewpoint: Instead of coming back "like a wanderer white/ with the dew," the farm in this stanza is "forever fled from the childless land." The slight variation in the forms of the stanzas makes the change explicit, but almost unnoticeably. An even more subtle pair of demarcations in the poem comes from the only two variances in the syllable counts I gave above. I said that the sixth and seventh lines of each stanza are regularly of fourteen syllables. But the sixth line of stanza one and the seventh line of stanza six have fifteen syllables each. There is a kind of logic to these cuts too: The first five lines, which precede the first metrical variation, can be seen as a kind of introductory or general statement, before we descend into the �19 specificity of the fairy-tale "once below a time." Similarly, the last three lines are signalled as a new gesture of summation by the metrical variation in line 52. In these last lines we get a repeating of several elements from the first two stanzas: "as I was young and easy" from line 1 (although the "Now" disappears); "in the mercy of his means" from line 14; "Time held me" echoing "Time let me" in lines 4 and 13; "green and dying" echoing "green and golden" from line 15. It is not only the extra syllable in line 52 that signals this last demarcation: Here alone we get a departure from the scheme of rhyme, near-rhyme and assonance that has unobtrusively shaped each stanza. All previous stanzas had the general pattern ABCDDABCD. Here in the last stanza, the sixth and seventh lines exchange their rhyme-sounds, pointing out a break from what has gone before. ("Dying," which corresponds with "rising," comes after "means," which corresponds with "sleep. 11 ) As if in compensation, the vowel sound symbolized by 11 D 11 --"sleep," 11 fields, 11 11 sea" --is the same in this stanza as that symbolized by "A 11 - - 11 me" and "rnea ns 11 --so that the first and sixth lines assonate not only with each other, but with lines 4, 5, and 9. Who on earth would notice these features, except me, the critic busily counting away? Do you hear them as they go past you? I doubt that even the syllabic regularity of the stanzas comes out to the casual listener, let alone the variations therefrom. But are we sure that we are not affected by what we do not consciously notice? And when we do notice it, doesn't it make the poem better for us? In a poem of almost limitless coherence, I think the assumption has to be that nothing happens by accident. If we notice a feature of the poem that seems to cohere with the others we have noticed, the burden of proof is on the person who seeks to exclude this insight, to deny that it is part of the poem's meaning. I am arguing that \Ve adopt �20 the interpretive maxim of St. Augustine that in cases of doubt, we take the reading that conduces to the reign of charity . Practically speaking, this means that we incline towards the inclusion of whatever complexities we find, unless they make the poem worse, less coherent, less concentrated. In the present case, there is a fittingness about the subtlety with which the poem's formal variations work on us. We are not accustomed to syllabic verse in English; our prosody is almost universally accentual-syllabic. Syllabic verse, in our experience, tends to be in languages like French, where there is a certain uniformity of stress. Our first impression in listening to Thomas is of strongly marked accents or stresses, which tempts us to try to measure his verse as purely accentual. But if we start counting stresses, we end up with a stanza pattern more illusory than real; there are too many variations for us to be able to say with confidence what the paradigm is. Thomas's poem sings in its syllabic chains, but those chains are so light that they are almost unfelt. As listeners we are as innocent as the boy depicted in the poem; time-- or more precisely, the measurement of time in syllabic units-- lets us play and be. The moral of the story seems to be, "Never read any poem for the first time." In fact, the experience of a poem's sound grows more specific, more itself, the longer we have listened to it, memorized it, learned the relation of part to part and of cadence to cadence. My thirty years of friendship with "Fern Hill" constitute yet another temporal perspective in my reading of the poem . The poem concerns itself with several different expanses of time: the finite lifespan of the speaker, the cyclical and repetitive time-scheme of nature, the sacred historical time of creation, pastoral innocence, and fallenness. The first of these is replicated in my life-span as a reader, and the second in my repeated experience of the poem. The poem as an utterance �21 takes time to say or to hear; its own elapsed time somehow becomes identified with all of time-making the poem a capacious summation but also isolating it. If all of time is within it, there is nothing beyond it. In this way the poem reminds me of my essential solitude as a timeconscious being. At any moment I look forward and back and contain an infinity within me; but metaphysically 1-- we-- live as we die, alone. This reflection might apply equally to all lyric poems, as a description of the "lyric moment"; it is especially true of "Fern Hill" because there are no other humans within the poem apart from the speaker of it. The child's solitude in the poem is qualified only by the presence of personified animals and other natural beings-- like the "apple towns" -- and by the personified presence of Time. But of this latter presence, the child is unaware. His solitary consciousness is absolute and selfdetermining; his sense of himself is as ari unmoving, stable point around which the delightful variety of the world moves. Thus as he falls asleep, the diminishing sound of the owls' hooting signals their having moved away from him, taking the farm with them. When the child awakes, it is not that he returns to the farm, but that it returns to him: like a wanderer white With the dew, come back, the cock on his shoulder. It is a characteristic of very young children, we are told, that they do not perceive objects as permanent, perhaps because they do not feel themselves as distinct from, standing over against, the objects in their environment. But this slightly older child does in one way realize that the motion is his, not the farm's: He sees himself as riding to sleep. As his account of the farm's motion makes clear, however, the implication of this phrase is not known to him: the �22 implication that sleep is a second death, that in moving through our lives, in aging we are all "riding to sleep," as we hear in the last stanza. Yet in the last stanza the question remains: Did he leave the farm or did the farm leave him-- or both? The persistence of the question is signalled by the ambiguity of the phrase, "And wake to the farm forever fled from the childless land." "Fled" seems to modify "farm," but it is hard in any literal way to imagine the farm fleeing from the land. It seems possible for "fled" also to modify the subject, the speaker "I." The ambiguity is reiterated by the difficulty of "fled from the childless land." One would think that the land is only "childless" because the speaker has fled from it, or because the farm, in some idealized sense, has fled from it. Yet it is already the childless land from which the fleeing takes place . There is a suggestion here that the speaker may have physically tried to return, found the place sterile and unhomelike, and fled from it in some more literal way. But if the farm has fled, then he himself is the childless land. In either case, the doubt about who is in motion suggests that the naive perspective of the child is not entirely lost even in the imprisoned present time of the speaker's singing in his chains. This relativity of motion in space-- this uncertainty as to whether he or the farm is moving-is connected with a relativity of motion in time. The child feels time as the streaming past him of a river of light-- He does not yet know that the light is a \vindfall, that his life is a fragile gift bestowed by the grace of another. Time is measured only by the motion of the heavenly bodies: "all the sun Jong," "all the moon long." He himself is not aware of moving in time, of growing older. And yet the world itself is unmoved: It is perfectly new and unaltered, as at the moment of Creation: �23 it was all Shining, it was Adam and maiden, The sky gathered again And the sun grew round that very day. "That very day" is emphatic: it is the same day, the true day, etymologically, of Creation itself. But the next words confuse the situation. So it must have been after the birth of the simple light In the first, spinning place, the spellbound horses walking warm Out of the whinnying green stable On to the fields of praise. Our first reading is likely to take "so" as inferential" Therefore, it must have been just after the birth of the simple light, on the first day of Creation. But this makes little sense-- as if we were discovering now, through a process of reasoning, that the time of his youth was literally the youth of the world. We cannot be discovering it now, since this was how it seemed to him then. So we see that we were pronouncing the word wrong, that "so" is to be· stressed: It" means not "therefore" but "like this." "So it must have been after the birth of the simple light"; the feeling at the remote time of creation must have been similar to the child's felt sense of newness in the rebirth of the morning. But this is a very different assertion. To be like something is not to be it, its very self: As Wallace Stevens said, "Identity is the vanishing point of resemblance." If the morning is only like the time of Creation, then the vision of the child or of the poet is not powerful enough to annihilate time. We can only speculate on what creation "must have been" like; that nev-lness and innocence is removed from us. The vagueness �24 of the phrase, "afier the birth of the simple light" can now be seen as purposive: \Ve are not told how long after. Creation itself is implicitly linked with the activity of song. The horses are "spellbound," held by magic spells, charms or enchantments. But as the etymologies suggest, "charm" and "enchantment" are words for singing. If the spell or charm is the creating word of God on the sixth day, when the animals were made, then the "fields of praise" would refer to God's looking on his work and finding it good. Like a poet, like Amphion with the walls of Thebes, God sings the world into being; we might think of the picture of creation in C.S. Lewis's Narnia tales. In Thomas's poem Creation is linked to music again in the phrase "And the Sabbath rang slowly/In the pebbles of the holy streams." But if we're tempted to think that all Nature is holy because it comes good from the hands of the Creator, we need to recall that the omnipotent being who holds us "in the mercy of his means" is not God here, but Time. The music of time's "tuneful turning" includes morning songs (without the "u "), songs of newness, innocence and Creation; but also mourning songs (with the "u"), songs of aging, .experience, evening and death. I have not begun to exhaust the resources of the poem in this very partial reading of it. But the Time which has been letting me play in the fertile fields of "Fern Hill" now hurries me toward a stopping place, if not a conclusion. I said that our criterion for the validity of a particular interpretive insight into any feature of the poem should be, does it make the poem better for us? But why should it be that a poem improves upon analysis? The implication is that complexity itself is a poetic virtue, perhaps the distinctive virtue of poetry that is good or great. �25 In the realm of feeling, verbal complexity is always truer than verbal simplicity, because of the incommensurability between our feelings and our thoughts. Not only must the additional complexities I notice make the poem seem better, they must also endure in later readings, to the point where they now seem native to the poem's core of meaning, not added ornaments found out by ingenuity and imputed to it. The complexities of meaning and form that I find must seem to be relatable to mixtures of feelings that the poem awakens in me. In this way, analyzing a poem, "giving a reading" of it, is a kind of introspective psychological exercise, trying to find things in the form or external content of the poem that correspond to feelings that I already have. And I impute a kind of causative power to these formal complexities that I find: I say that they are the reason that my feelings were mixed, though I have only discovered it now. Complexity is thus interesting to us--it speaks to us of ourselves-- and so it allows a poem of finite size and scope to go on interesting us as we read and reread it. But the complexity must not be merely given at the outset: Instead, the poem, to be a good poem, must move toward greater complexity as we continue to encounter it over and over in time. A great poem must improve with age, but unlike a wine or a quarterback, it should never peak and decline: and this very inexhaustibility of poems is an interesting and puzzling phenomenon. My claim for the particular greatness of "Fern Hill" is thus partly an empirical one, resting on my continued experience of its ability to grow. "Fern Hill" is not the most complex poem I have ever read, nor even the most complex that Thomas wrote-- Many of his sonnets, especially, are notably obscure and even unintelligible on first reading. But I do claim that "Fern Hill" has exhibited the most increase in complexity as I continue to read it, unlike �26 gnomic, riddling poems that remain static once they are deciphered. But the increase in complexity is always contained and governed m a mysterious way by the finite sensuous experience of the spoken text of the poem, as if the moments of its sounding were the congealed presence to me of ever-increasing intervals of Time itself. The musicality of the poem's surface does not disappear or cloy as I go on reading; instead it animates, accomodates, and brings into the foreground a steadily increasing number of complexities and internal articulations. The poem deepens although its surface does not change; and the character of its depths is consistent with that of the surface. Thus it is that we can often recognize the greatness of a great poem even on first reading, long before we have unpacked it and made it our own. The spoken text is like the finite sum of an infinite series. The specific greatness of "Fern Hill" is not however an accidental fact in my autobiography. This poem addresses itself precisely to the encounter between innocence and experience that constitutes the successive experiencing of poems and this poem. Each time we read it, the poem's theme readdresses the question of how we can connect this reading to our previous ones. The poem's identity as it subsists in the face of change and age is like my own, making me identify not only with the time-bound speaker but with the time-bound poem itself. And then I am brought to reconsider questions like, Who am I now? Can I ever prescind from my location in space and time, to consider \Vhere I end and my world begins? Can I distinguish among successive me's in time, so as to think meaningfully about what I think, feel and see now, as opposed to \Vhat I remember thinking, feeling and seeing? How can even these questions keep their meaning for me, unreconciled as I am to the implacable fact of my own �27 awaiting death? ************ We shall not cease from exploration And the end of all our exploring Will be to arrive where we started And know the place for the first time. That was T.S. Eliot, in another very great poem which shares its subject with "Fern Hill," and with this lecture. All are about time, and it is now about time that I end by reclaiming "Fern Hill" for myself, as I said I would, by putting it back together, singing it in my chains, speaking it into being one more time: Fern Hill Now as I was young and easy under the apple boughs About the lilting house and happy as the grass was green, The night above the dingle starry, Time let me hail and climb Go!den in the heydays of his eyes, And honoured among wagons I was prince of the apple towns And once below a time I lordly had the trees and leaves Trail with daisies and barley Down the rivers of the windfall light. And as I was green and carefree, famous among the barns About the happy yard and singing as the farm was home, In the sun that is young once only, Time let me play and be Golden in the mercy of his means, And green and golden I was huntsman and herdsman, the calves Sang to my horn, the foxes on the hills barked clear and cold, And the sabbath rang slowly In the pebbles of the holy streams. 5 10 15 �28 All the sun long it was running, it was lovely, the hay Fields high as the house, the tunes from the chimneys, it was air And playing, lovely and watery And fire green as grass. And nightly under the simple stars As I rode to sleep the owls were bearing the farm away, All the moon long I heard, blessed among stables, the nightjars Flying with the ricks, and the horses Flashing into the dark. And then to awake, and the farm, like a wanderer white With the dew, come back, the cock on his shoulder: it was all Shining, it was Adam and maiden, The sk.-y gathered again And the sun grew round that very day. So it must have been after the birth of the simple light In the first, spinning place, the spellbound horses walking warm Out of the whinnying green stable On to the fields of praise. And honoured among foxes and pheasants by the gay house Under the new made clouds and happy as the heart was long, In the sun -born over and over, I ran my heedless ways, My wishes raced through the house high hay And nothing I cared, at my sky blue trades, that time allows In all his tuneful turning so few and such morning songs Before the children green and golden Follow him out of grace, Nothing I cared, in the lamb white days, that time would take me Up to the swallow thronged loft by the shadow of my hand, In the moon that is always rising, Nor that riding to sleep I should hear him fly with the high fields And wake to the farm forever fled from the childless land. Oh as I was young and easy in the mercy of his means, Time held me green and dying Though I sang in my chains like the sea. ***************************** 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource St. John's College Lecture Transcripts—Santa Fe Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource St. John's College Meem Library Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Santa Fe, NM Description An account of the resource Items in this collection are part of a series of lectures given every year at St. John's College at the Santa Fe, NM campus. Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data paper Page numeration Number of pages in the original item. 29 pages Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource A Ramble of Fern Hill Description An account of the resource Typescript of a lecture delivered on April 8, 1994, by Jonathan Tuck. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Tuck, Jonathan Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Santa Fe, NM Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1994-04-08 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource St. John's College has been given permission to make this item available online. Type The nature or genre of the resource text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource pdf Language A language of the resource English Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context lec Tuck 1994-04-08 Tutors https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/sjcdigitalarchives/original/21695765030a399c5d9c38253cc31fad.pdf 4fad9d8e3a98172ea169d93407ced55a PDF Text Text A READlNG OF THE GETTYSBURG ADDRESS Eva Brann Expanded Version · Friday ~ight Lecture 1968 �Final text of the addre•• delivered at th• dedication of the c..etery at Gettysburg Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on. thla continent, an• natlon, o-•tv•d'ln. Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all •en ar• created equal. Now we are engaged in a great eivll var, testing whether that nation, or any nation ao oencelved and so dedicated, can lo'ftl endure. We are 118t on a great battle-field of that war~ We hav• coae t• dedicate a portion ef that field, as a ft.na~ reatlng ptaee fer those who here gave their live• that that natien •lght .live. It ls altesether fitting and preper " that ve ehould do thl1. . lut, in a larger aenae, we ean net d•d1oat• ... we oan not consecrate • we ean Mt ball•w • thl1 greund• TM brave •en, llving and dead, who 1trugsled here, have conaeerat•d it, far a"v• e>ur· · poor power te add or detraet. the world will little n.te, nar long re11•ber tlhat we say h•r•, .but it oan never for get 111h.at they did . here, It is for ue the living, rather, to be dedicated her• te the unflnlahed · werk which they whe fought her• nave t:hu1 far •• nobly advanced. It la rather for us te be her• dedlt!ated ~ tlut great task reaaln.ing before ua - that fr•• t1-•• honored dead ve take lncr••••d devotion t• that cauae for vhleh they gave the last fwll ••••ur• of devotion • that we here highly reeelve that th••• dead 1hall n.t have died ln valn • that this ~tlon, under God, ahall have a new birth of (rHdoa • and that geverna•nt of the people, by the p.. ple, fer the peeple, shall net perl1h fro• the earth. Abrah.,. Llnceln Nov•b•r 19, 1863 1. the Speech •• a Whal• It la probably beat to .begin by ebaerving what la aoet ebvlous about thle "Address Delivered at the Dedioatloo of the Cemetery at Gettysburg" (p. 734)* - its brevity. It . oen•i•t• of t•n eentenoes which can be spoken ln a little over two airutea. It la ao short that on the eccaslon of lte delivery in the open air, before a orovd of more than 15,000 people, though the speaker delivered hla wurds •tn a cl•ar, full veloe.• he d to have finished before his voice had really begun t• car~y. •re.. Perhaps this very (ugltive character of the live speech has something to do wtth its enduranae as a piece of pro••· We know that Lincoln meant the speech t• 1urvlv• as a written tut, since h• ht.aaelf prepared ••.v eral copies fer publl•ation, the laat ene over three months after its dellvery.2 · And although Lincoln punctuated thi• 1peech, aa he did allhi.1 epeeohea, in the . .nner of an orator, as it was to be heard (cf. P• 47), using especially ~ . At'th•• Ltnqf~na {brary, 62. *All page references to Lincoln's speeches co• fro• Speechee !ml ·· Writ:iD&•• ed. R. P. Bailer, Uni.versa H.ll �the ce...s of grammar to . .rk th• ~o. .as o~ 1peaker'1 pau1e• of the rhetorle, yet there ta ••••thlng peoµl l.&rly .•1et_ dew• and permanent about lt. · •· · · · · · · · ' , . ' ·· furtheraore we know fro• Llneoln hl•••lf that h• ohee• hie format quite deliberately. Fer he answered _Everett- vh9 had , generously· written t• bi• that "I ahould t>e'"sl•d if . I could flatter •yself that I ca- as near te the central ldeae! the oeea1ion in two hours •• you did in twe •11tut•a" that _ , M•n In our respective p&rtl Y••t•rday. ' ye~ oeul.d net ha-.. exouaed te uke • ahort addre1a, no·r I a leng on• (pa 737) • • •~ • J Edward Everett, whe had been·· both a ~·t•a:ler ~t Gr•'• k •t Harvard and a d:l•t inguiahed atate1un 1 bad been oheaen to be the t1aln apeaker at the dedication as a national ce-tery of th• piece of ground beught by the eight~-.n ~orth~r~ ~tat~e ;wtio had l••t aen at the battles ef Getty1burg. · · Linceln, aa chief. of aiate, bad been invited only two weeka be!ore the · oereuny and £verett had court. .usly sent hi• his own two-hour 's peech, 3. ctoapoaed _ the olaaat.alzing lp , style. for which he vaa famous, ao that Llneoln alsl\t 'aenelder lt in writt.rg hie own (p. 738). We •1ght then ...-otL1neoln'• speech to be oo. 1POa•d aa a eounterpol••- t• Everett•• 1 ln !apt, ln eplte of 1 Li.neoln'a expressed adalrat1on (p~ 737) • . it ." •ett•s to be, a tacit· and tactful repudiation : ef auoh learned rnetoric. : . .' Everett be~ina vitha re!erence ·to th• funeral cere•niee for tJ1e so).dlers of ancient· ·Athene, reporte~ by thuc.ydidee in the ~-e~ond ·book of t-h• PtltRtoDI• ttn ~ (para a. · 35 ff.) , ..-:td end a by quoting Pericles• speech, ·aa Thucydides givee it. Evk"•tt'• speech wae thus intended to be, and wa1 readily reeognlzed •• bet.ng1 ••elass1cal • ln t&ne. In a aal iolous but not totally inept editorial, the Richmond ~9111)1r had said of Everett'• perfor•anc~a •so f&J! the play was strictly classtc•1 and then o! Lincoln's 1peeoh .. To suit the gert•ral public, ·however, a little ad•ixtt.Fe .e f the •re irregular ro•antlc drau was allowed"• the latt;.,•r tena •ight conceivably be applied te a apeeon which, in its reveal.,ns brev i ty, was 11.ke the aerteua obverse of a Llncoln!ai\ anecdotfh . .Here are certain other points in whloh the twe apeeche1 differed. Everett'• waa heavtlydaotylica a stress verelon ' of the Greek epie _ foo~ of. one , long and two short ayllablea appeared eften, , beginrill18 with the first words 1 · ·· - I I .. . ' Standing beneath this serene eky, through phrases Ilk•• " the .. - I . . · . , ' . I ~raves , o! our brethren beneath our feet;, ,., I • · I . . I . . the -eloquent ·Silence of God and Nature, · ., c~ .,.. I I .. I I It was appeil'\ted by law in Athens;· · to the final wordsa �·l~ I I I that whtoh r•latel to the Battles of Gettyaburg. Lincoln's speech, on the other hand, has the prevallina diayllabic pattern, . . stly lamba, ·natural .to sober Engli1h apeeah. So after the two long beats of a grave and 11e>urnful apondee the pattern sets ina I I I I I Four score and seven year• age, and in the last paragraph partioularl~ sequences of laablo penta•eter are dlaoernible. In respect t• diction, Everett'• prose vaa «=la11loal and Latinate, while, lt ha1 been reckoned, Llnoalil on thi1 eccaaion uaed only 32 words of Latin orlgin9 in contrast to . his praotlae vhtll'l addressing a aelfM!t body, for instance, Congreaa; aa ln th• pererat. lon of his Annual Heaaage of 18611 With a relianee on Providence, all th• 110re fir• and earneat,"1et i•:: t · us proceed ln the great task which events have devolved upon · It ".'., (pa 635) e . . us Aa for eettl~, Everett conaeived hie effo~t ae part ef a 11onumental tradlt1.on of aeldler~ funeral oratory. He: ende by ••belliahill8 upon P•rlolea• . .snlloquent saying that •tbe whole earth ls the sepulchre of llluatrloua men.• Lincoln,,ln aontra1t, asslgn1 to the dead neither the earth wlth which he end1 hi• apeeeh, nor th& continent with which he begin•, nor even the battle field on which he dwells in the slddle, but soberly, a aere . .deat •postlon of that field.• So also Everett, beginnlng •• Periclea had, with a reference to the law in Athena, aakes aucb of the am;t.que 1anctlon for such cere•nle1 1 whla!h included an ebllsatory funeral eratlen delivered by an orator chosen for th• purpe1e. Llnoelft• en th• other hand, in hia first draft aaya brusquely, -•thle we aay in all propriety do" (p. 736) 1 intiaating that such dedication• are an indulgence of the livl~, and aoderates this in delivery to a brief statement of co11aon propriety• It ls altosether fitting and proper that we ahould do thl•• (p. 734, cf~ P• 728), . only to go on to call the whole cere11e>ny in questlan1 But 1 in a larger aenae, we can not dedicate - we oan not consecrate - we can not hallaw • this ground. The brave aen, living and dead, who 1truggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power ' to add er detract. Lincoln ls lmplioitly ..klng the aignlficant point that it is !!IS the l~w tn Aaeriaa to have such oaaequles and such speaker1, that honor, particularly for the dead, 11 not an ••tabll1hed publics concern 1n A••rlca. �In content, · what la ••t atriking t.1 that Everett touahe1 on a nwiber of •attere .on whioh_L1neoln has . not one exp11clt word. Everett re!era te the Confederate "lnva1lon11 of Maryland and · Pennsylvania and ceaparea 1t te the Peralan invaai•ft~f G~•eae. Lincoln, en th• ether band, ~d. ln a letter to General Ralleek, specl.fically objeeted t• a phr••• ltke ·11 drlv• ti. invad•i' tr•• our 1011•. uaed by General Meade ln hla order thanklng the aray for the victory at Gettyabur· . Fer, Lincoln. · aaid, "th• male country g is our soil,• alndful ef the faot that th• opponent vae not a fore~ner • .. Hence h• aaye nethin.g of the _ atratestc a1.roW11tamea of" th~ battle credited with ending th• danger of a Colilfederat• occupation ef the North which aake up:.:, the bulk of Everett' a tut, nor . doea he, aa Everett, assign reaponaib111ty fer· .the var, _ tak• up epeciflc conatltutienal queetiona or aention explieitly the fundaaenta} issues of alavery and Unt.on. It 11 worth ••ntlont.ng th.ea• oal1alone, because, as will be shown, in a way they ahape the apeeea. · Thus Linooln preeenta an alt•rnatlve te the olaa9loizlng atyle, an unde110cratle style daalgned, at bttttoa, fqr the secret and eeparate satle!actlon of the speaker and conn.laaeura. Thi• appears aost cleaaly at a _polnt in Which Lincoln in~e · algni!loant contrast with the claaaloal •delatheaaelvea, vi.th Thuaydt.d•• and his Pericles, net by way ot .E:verett'a learned fllter, but 1. .edlatelyt nor aa a etudent of the P9lo~ont1110 !!II: (there ls n. evldence that ,_he was), but as an Aaerican vth an Athenian 1tate1un. Everett•• ·- cholce of aedel had, after all, been an aead••ic, a polltleally bl ind cholcje, fer in the Aurlaan tradition P•rloles 11, of neceaaity, a dubious figure, the leader whO, aa Al•xander Haallton aaya tn ~he sixth F1de;9ll•~· was fer peraonal aottvea · ••Ille co••• aucber •f tha• fa-.ua aM -ta1*al , war._ wbl~h •• •• tenlnated in the · ruin of the Athenian co..,,nw•alth. ~h• prl•lalv• ~ It is only necessary t• cal 1 that var a o1v11 var to sn" that . Perie lea la Lincoln'• - roper antique antagenl8t. The queet~n here la1 hov p do they contrast with respect to political rhetqric1 · The single sentence or th• 1peech wbieh had the greateet eff'9Ct at the tiae and was aoat singled out for anecd(>te and quetatlon (for instance, by the P~iJ1d1lpbi1 Pr•10 Ind Htrptr'• Wtfi\y) vas the follovln~ generou• alsehooda . The world vl,11 little n0t:e, ner long re11e•ber what we aay here; but lt can never forget what they did here. The word In 5UJl was the only word underecered (F1tet Draft, P• 736). this emphasis on the soldlers• deed, LtncQln, of oeurn, _expresses hie senae of urgency in that late fall of 1863, vb.en after the SWiiier battles of Gettysburg, auch to his dlsappointaent~ · expressed in urgent letters to his generals (cf. PP• 711-12, 726-27), there had been only indecisive 11aneuvering ln the eaat. Lincoln _ �felt oppressed by unf1nlshed buslnass and had said that hia speech would be "ehort. short. ahert." the "unflnt.ahed wark." "the gr••t task reraalning before ua• curtail the foraat of the a~ech, and in the precipitous elllpsea of the last sentence, .affeet lta gr-.r. for the sentence lacks all the conneativea here eonjeeturally supplied a · It t.a rather for us to be here d•dt.cated .to the great taak reaalrit.~ before ua •[vhlch aeana] that fro• th••• homred dead we take increased devott.en to that cause fer whioh they .8ave the last full •aaure of devotion - [and] that we here hl~ly resolve that these dead ahall not have ·dlecf t.n valn • [aoJ that this nation, under God, ahallheue • new birth of lreedo• • and that govern111tnt of the people. by the people, for the people, shall not perish fro• the earth• But the 110re significant aspect of Linaoln'a depreciation of "what we say here• can be beat seen by contrast with a correepondlng sentence fro• Perlolea' open1"8• He says! · Moat of •Y predecessors t.n this place· have ee-ended hia who •de this speech part of the law,. telling ua that it ia well that it should be delivered at the burlal o( thoae ·who fall in battle. For •Y••lf, I should have thought that the worth which had displayed itself in deeds, would be auff\,ciently rewarded by honours also ahriwn by deede1 such aa yeu now see in ·this funeral prepared at the people's coat. And I oeuld have ·Wished that the reputations .of many brave •en were net to be i•perllled ln the 11outh ef a alngle individual, to stand or fall aooordlng as he spoke well or 111 (II, 35). the deprecating phrases barely hide Periclea• persuasion that the dead must rely on hi• fer their life in the elty•s aeaory, !•r ho,,ar,n~· that his speech ia worth a battle; as Thucydides thought hls history worth a war. With that, contrast Lincoln'• assertion that the dead are beat honored by their own deeds, that they do theiaaelvee honor, that the task at hand overshadows all ceremony, and hie avoidance of the pronoun "I". · Hore of the rhetorical character of Peri.el.••' apeech le writ large in Plato• s d lalo~ue . Htgrcenu1, in. whieh Spcrate1 . recitee to Menexenus an excruciatingly ~own-up caricature of Pertelea• funeral oratory, which he elai•a to have learned fro• Pericles' hlgh•elaaa whore Aepaeia. It ls essentially a pervers ton of the •noble lte• of the Republt.c (414f .) • For tn it the Athenians are•·teld that they are all autoebt:henoue, deseended fro• those whe sprang fro11 the earth, their aether, and so share equally in a h1gh and heroic lineage (M!poxenue, 237 ff.). By th• prolonged repetttlen,·of i thla and other false facts, erateri, .a11 Socrates deacribea . lt, bewitch our soul•·•••o that even I, Henexenus, when so lauded by the• feel thoroughly noble, and eaeh tlM I stand and listen enthralled and think that I have becoae suddenly �bigger and nobler and Mre handso•e• •• And this exaltation re-ins wlth ae for •ore than three days (235). Nov co•pare a speech in which Lincoln deals with the aatter of traditional colebratl•n•, his Chicago speech of 1858 (p. 401). He calls attention to the natl.en'• rutn•aboriginal nature, ta its beginning 82 years ~gor he calla th• faundera,"aen we clala ae eur fathers and ~randfathers," not hereee, but •tron aen"t he apprevea of the annual celebratien of the ancestral founder• ef eur present prosperity and saya drily that "we go fro• these 11eetinga tn better humour with ourselves.• But · then he stops and r--bera that half the preaent citizens of the country a,re not blood descendants of the founding fathers, and he finds that the true co. .on •rather• of all Amerloana is in fact a declaration of "soral principle,• and through lt all AMerieana are "blood of the 'blood, and !leah of the flesh, of the Nen who wrote that Declaratien" (p. 402). · In Lincoln's rhetoric, then, general prosperity take• the place si~nificant founding act replaces continuity of . habitatlont •nd a peraanent 11eed of sober self-approbatlcm subatitutee for the 'exaltati•n of the days a tradition e! principle euperoedes a llnea~e of blood, And fer all these reasons together, the Aaerioa.n speaker ls net a •aster aani.pulator, but a ftlitlcal t11g~.al'• the only course open to a man Who believed, ind etinct eppea tion to the thesis that •so.e ••n are too isnor•nt, and too ylgloul to share in ~overnment" (p. 279), . · of proud deedst a that n:. aan .ls ~ood enou~h to ether' 1 c1 naent ( p. 304) • ~overn another -n, · wttl]!ut . ~ The Gettysbur~ Address will, accordingly, turn out to be a distlllatlen of Lincoln'• political phiteaophy, which he, . en thle occasion as on many others, atteapted tG infuse tnt,o t;he natien at· lar~e. a nation distingulahed by the !aet th&t its proaperity ."hae a philesophical cause" (p. 513). It is !or this reas. n that the vrltt•n o versions of the apeeeh have no foraal ealutat ten. - it la addressed to all citizens. And the brevity that aade its ten sentenc•e at the . ti•• so fugitive in the hearing, aake them a "peraanent peea•••lon• , ln later readings. For because ef it the speech is readily learned by heart, and la, ln fact, learned by ·heart by aany aehool children. But that ••ans that it aay aucoeed in lodging in the ~t in the fora of seund sentl11ent, e! "virtue and v1~1lance" (p~fh, theee very propoeltlons, essential to the national life, which are too difficult - and perhaps too dubleus - to be continually kept in !!.lm!• Lincoln reco~nized that . . In this age, in this country, public sentlaent ls everything, since in A•erica si~nlfloant political action depends entirely on such sentl•ent. Consequently, as a republioan stateeaan, he aade lt his continual rhetorical task t• guide it,- that i1, te ••nvert the founding doauaents' sound principles. into the ot.ti&•n•' sober passion, in unoensclous accO'rdance wlth Monteaquieu•a advice in the §piri!= ~.ll the L!n• For he says in the chapter "Of Educatien in a �-7Republlcan Governaent" that the ~ullar republican virtue, •teve of the laws and of our country,• requtr•• a kt.nd ef aelf•renunolation., a "constant preference of public to private lnterest," and that "to inspire it ought to be the principal business of educatien" (II,S). But such love of things public la precisely the product of propeaition transforaed int• sent1aental Llnoeln'• rhetarlc la ba••d en the conversion of politlc•l principle into "aoral sentlaent" (p. 401). ••Y•• · Thus Lincoln, who deprecates what ht aust •ke every word i>nl8n&nt with a werld of -•nlng, a~ hia eonte.porarlea reoo~nized that he did just that. Th• Spr\ng!lfld Rfpubllean ce~nteda Hts little speech ts a perfect g. . a deep ln feeling, coapact ln thought and expreaalen, and tasteful and .elegant in every word and eo...... Turn ba~k and read it over, it wlll repay atudy as a 1t0del apeeeh. Strong feelings and a large brain were · its parents - a little palnataklr« lta tccoucl\§y[• •ad• The be~innlng of suctiatudy ls beat with a acanning of the whole, which will brlng out the g~and fraaevork of this little speech• · In time it spans the past ("Feur score and seven years ago"), the present ("Now we are engaged in a great civil war") and the future ("this natlen ••• ahall have a new birth of freedoa"), ¥hil• in apace it coraprtaes the battle ground, on which it ls delivered (aiddle sentences), the continent on which the nation was ~rn (first sentencE and the earth which it ls to aave (last sentence). · 11. The First Paragraph Linaeln- begln•• Four scere and seven yea~s ago ••• "Four score," vi.th its long •h's, repeated in several assonancea, and the first of 11any alliteratlena, sounds a abre mourttful and solemn ·, note than the wards "eighty-seven years," but th• choice of the phrase is not only a J1Atter of sound1 it also carries a · speclal iuant.ng. It ta· the language of the Btble, as in Psal11 90, 101 The days 'o f our years are threeacGre · yeara and tena and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is th•ir strength labour and sorrow.a for it is soon out off, and we fly away • . With the psala in mind ·the phrase ••ane- jus~ beyond the .ae•ry of 1 anyone new alive, too long ago for living lleaGry. Now ve know that from youth on Lincoln was concerned with a peculiarly Aaerlcan dangers the death of sound political passion. In hie speech on "The Perpetuati•n of our Political lnetltutlons" of 1838,s Llnceln drew a clear parallel with the early cofllltlnlty e! Christians, whose danger lay ln the fact that the first generation of disciples and eye• witnesses was followed by a second which had only heard by word of �-8- mouth, by a third which had begun only to have read of Christ, and a fourth which had begun t• fer~et. So in the Aaerican co11munityi the ecenes of the revolution J2.! so universally known, nor so vividly felt, as they _,,the generation juat gone to r••t (p. 84). CtQDlt ..r. The ••n who had seen the Revolution, who were its "l tving history•• are now genes They were the pillars. o! the temple of llberty1 and now, that they have cruabled away, that teaple 11ust fall, unless ve, thelr deseendanta, .supply their places with other pillars, hewn fro• the aolld quarry of s&ber r~ason (p. 84). The danger that the enthuslaa11s of the Revelutlon aight beco11e mere myths .has advaneed to a fact in 1863, the ti•• of the fourth generation fro• that eventa the national edifice has to be rebuilt "fro11 the solid quarry of sober reason." This la the age for a deliberate 11ining of the ft.rat aceounte, for rereadl~ ·the founding docuraents·. Se, then "Feur 1oore and seven years ago" points to that quarry, that alne, ef reasen. Subtract .87 fr•• 1863 and the result 18 1776. Lincoln cen1idera that th~l natt.gn was both conceived l~ and born with . the Declaration .2! ln1'pt_enc§• ·· on July 7, 1863, in response to a serenade en the eccas ctn o the . victory of Gettysburg. under the influence cf the providential coincidence that both the victories of that battler . and Vicksburg had been announced on the Fourth or July, and that Jefferson and John Ada11s had both dled on that day, he had said1 How long ago ls it • eighty odd years • since -on the Fourth . of July for the first tl•• in the history of the world a natien by its representatives, assembled and declared as a self· evident truth that "all 11en are created equal•• That was the birthday of the United States of America (P• 709) • ... And in earlier speeches he had often counted back the et'ghty or eighty•two years to 1776 (pp. 39!, 393)• In repeatedly fixing on the signing of the Declaration as a crucial date, Lincoln ls making a deliberate pelltieal judgment concerning the 'hierarehy of founding events, different for instance fro11 the of Toombs of Georgia who · had begun a speech ln 1850 in this waya Sixty years ago our Cathers joined together to form a more perfect Union. and to establish justice ••• (of. P• 216), refe.-ring the foun<1log Sl[ ~republic to 1790 (the date when the las~ ori8lna1 , state ratified the Constitution), and quoting frora its Preaable. Lincoln's veraien ~ives rather the birth .2.{ Sh!! nation. �- q .. He goes on~ ••• our fathers brought 'fbrth on this continent, a new natlon, conceived ln Liberty, and dedicated to the propoeltlon that all men are created equal. The "fathers" - he calls them fathers, although they are only forefathers, to bring the Revolutlon close - are a very deflnlte group of men. In another context he had said• I suppose the "t:hirty-nine" who st.gned the original instrrn..nt (here the Constltutiona.ay bf!' fairly called our fathers who t'r••d that part of th• fresent Governaent (p. 517). In this speech, then, "our fathers" must be those men, tn .part identical vlth the signers of the Constitution (p. 305), who devlsed and signed the Declaration, ~specially Jefferson. · · . .. These men "brought forth"• thts is again Biblical dlctiona ' the phrase ls used, for tnstance, . ln ~ 1, 31 in the annunciation of the Messiah's birth. They •brought forth on this continent" (all . versions but the last two had "upon•) L ther.e are undertones here of "begot upon the body of this land,• "fathered on thla .fallQv contlnent a1 aother•a the child nation ts safe tn the ' lap of a whole continent, capable ef protecting it from foreign: interference and o! providing those unlimited riches whlch are ita material condltlon. The new nation was •conceived ln Liberty• ("liberty" being the only noun capital lzed beald,,.~, "God") 1 not conceived in love aa are blessed children, but conc,lVed in the love of liberty as are bleased nations \Cf• P• 315)~ Thus the ~gettirut of this nation was a begetting of reason (so. also "bringing f'orth" can mean · "uttering reasons," cf. 11111!} 41.21), primarily a male acta as in Aeschylus• &U!!ent.deo the begetting of the wisdom of Athens, the conception of Athena, is exclusively male (1. 736)1 America ls a fatherland, not a Henexenean aotherland, and this lend' Lincoln's •patriotis111• a special cast. Upon this conception, thtJ nationchild vaa dedicated to a proposition as in a baptism. The proposition, "that all men are created e.ual," was tn quot,tion marks ln the first draft (p. 735) since it com.ra. from the second paragr4ph of the · Declaration of Independence. · I! these are the tmplications of the first, and shortest, of the three paragraphs of increasing length, what ts its sign1flcance7 Consider ftret the continent, the first Qf a nation's three parts, which are "its territory, its people, •nd its lava" (p. 676). The second Federal1et says Thia country and this people seem to have been made for each other ••• �-10- De Tocqueville makes the s&11e point of the United States1 ••• God hlaself gave the11 the 11eans of remaining equal and free, placing the11 upon a boundless continent, ••• (De10s;racy !n A11eric1, I, xvii). · by Lincoln too, especi-ally in hia ·Annual Messages to Congress, spoke . almost with awe of the continent, "the ever-enduring part" of the nation, whose riches give llb~rty an object, whGae 1.11pregnability fosters an unlnvidious patrl~tls11-, and whose integrity makes secession a chlmaerae Physically speaking, we cannot separate (1861, P• 586) ••• the land we inhabit ••• would, ere lo~, force reunion, however auoh blood and t;reasure the s•paratio!l might have cost (1A62, P• 679). Such a contl~nt makes the fittest ground for a aeed of principle, for a continental spac• is needed te safeguard the first e11bodt11ent of the deaGeratlc ldea. Next• What of the blrthdate of 17767 Censonant . with the second Fedgallst, Lincoln held that the Declaratlcan of Independ•nce ·was . ~~te- by the Union, for~ally established by the Arti~les of Assoc atian 1774, and was ft~~ceeded by the establishment of the Constitution in 1787 (p. 5~. This sequence was of the greatest stgniflcance, for 1.t ·aeant - that the nation's birth was a birth of principle, whose issue was •ads peaslble by the ali~htly . antecedent union of the people, and whose nature was kept safe by allowing the practical . lnstruaent of its life to wait on its conception. · Thus, usln~ phrases borrowed fro• Proverbs 25,11, Lincoln, wrote of the principle .. Liberty to all" as expressed in t:he Declaration• · The assertion of that principle, at .tl!!£ ,.t.111§., was the word .. fltly eppktn .. which has proved an "apple--orgold .. t;o us. The Union and the Constituti•n are the pictut:s! of §ilver, subsequently fraaed around tt ,(p. 513). Herf! "subsequently .. 11t1st, ln the case of the Union, mean not later in tiMe, but in pelltlcal priority. Lincoln. then, held the Declaration ta be far more than a declaration ef independence (cf. PP• 574, 577), and lndeed, it would in that case have been a peculiar docuaent to cite in a war to. fight secessi•n• But 1.t 1§. llUCh mores for its wri.ter, Jefferson, had the coolness, t:orecast and capacity to lntroduce 1.nto a Merely revolutionary document an abstract truth, ••• (p. 489)1 and lt is precisely 'by the o•lssion of this truth that the various ' "merely revolutlenary .. Declarations of Independence adopted by the Union's adversaries are characterized (p. 607). And so Llnceln eaysa �J have never had a feeltng polltlcal.ly that did not sprlng frofti the eentlraente embodied in the Declarat.lon of Independence.,. It wan not the 11ere 11atter of the separat \.on of th" Co lonles fro11 the •otherland1 but that sentiment ln th• D•clar.atlon of Independence whlch ~ave 1 t.berty, not alone to the peopla of thl ; ; country, but~I hop~, to the world, for all future time (Adores~ 10 ~Jl~1J11en!"t1nc,; ll!ll, 186 l, P• 577, cf. PP- 362, 513). Now what l8 of pt·lme lmportance ln the speech ls Wu! these pr lnc lplft~, which mark the tru.t beg hmlng of the nation, are hel d . tincqln denomlnatf!~ t h ers "concrp'lgn§'" nnd "Q!oposi~12n~." In the Of!claratt.on the fftthers hact he rl that they were "ltelf-~vid11a.nt Truths .; So11ftthln~ hae happened between the foundln~ and the present: which forc~u Llncoln to c4ll the axi.011s o! the Declaration mere proposltlo n Th la le 'fhllt had happened 1 tpe Declarat: ton had been cal led ln publ lo. 11 a aelf·evlchmt l le, .. a phrase Lincoln often clted with rfl!pu~nanoe (pp • . '314, 331, 489, cf, P• 275), for i.t qreates a f a tal sltu11tlon1 One would ~tart wlth great conf 1.dence that he coulo convlnc any sane chlld that the et11pler proposi.tlons of Euclid are trueJ but neverthole~se he would fall, utterly, wlth one who should deny tho de!tnltiona anc1 axioms. The pri.nciples cf Jefferson Are the de!inltione •nd axi.01110 of free soctety (p!. 489). That Llncutn hac'I 11ade a epecial effort to study t~xte concerned with . itnrt to ponder the natUJ;e of, axt.or1att.c sel!·evtdence and logical conaequeno• is k.nown. In hls short autoblo~raphy he particularly nientiQne that he had "studt.ed &nd nearlv 11astered the six books of F.:uclld tttnce he wae a me1'1lber of' Co~res; .. (p. 549). He understood that melf~evldence le a peculiarly delicate affair. since once impugned, one~ only dented in publtci · a,self•evtdent truth turns lnto a debatable proposition. Yet as the axtom, precisely by reason <>f lts eel!•evldence. was unprovable, so the . proposition has no · rational proof from hi,gher prtnclples, but can be verified only fro~ its consequences or • draadful prospect - from the fatal consequences of ite oontrary. !hie, then, ts the peculiar danger or a natlon which lives on a tradition of expl{clt prl~ctple rather than of ingrained myth, • prlnclple afflr~ed at its very beginning in one event: whose impact no later ones, wlth l:he unhappy exception of 1Jo11n catastrophe, ce.n match· that it grows blind to the selfevldence of lts conceptiona untll a catastrophe opens lts eyes. And now, what.,more precisely, are these principles whose s tandi r has changed? In the words of the Declaratlon they are1 that all M~n are preated equal, that thoy are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rlghts, that among these are Llfe, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. Bere equality of creation, equality before God, precedes, and ls the condltlon of, the other rl~hts, of whlch only some are named. One etrlkln~ o~teslon ls of positive importance, slnce wlthout lt Ltncoln could scarcely have cited thls document ln that year which had be~un, ln the Emanclpatlon Proclamation of January · t, lR63, with what was ~dmitteoly a destruction of the property of many Americans ·1. ·.· �-12- (p. 6At). In Leok•'• teeurrent f•raula .. ll!e, liberty and preperty (or eG.. •qulvalent fer l••t• ni. Itt•t~lf .It C1Y.1l ~'!.!,nuot• ••8• par••· 123, 11,, lli),• •r•en•~ 1ubitltiited ?Or prepert:y .,the Purault ef ff•J>plne11, • l••vlns the , erl9lnal p"ra•e to be pt.oked up in the Con1tltutten (p. 524). Exoept fer thi• sub•tltutlen th• Deelaratlen -.euld b.ardly have been •• t• the heart ef Lt.nceln, wtMI r ...•bered wt.th apprnval th• 11 S•J•?f cl••• that ttw Je!feraon party were foraed upon it• ~UP'8••<t 1upet:'ler devetlen t• the peraenal rtfht• ef aen, holding th• rl1hi• •f property te be eecendary en y, and a•••tly t.nferl•~•·•• (p. •&&). But a ••••nt v•r dead epeelfleally • r • reuin, th• ef natlenal erisle and t~• ee•••lGn •f ••••... rating lt 1earoely an eppertune tl•• te ·dwell en the per1onal rlgftts te life and th• pursult ef happlne••• eut et: th• Deelaratlon, tir•t equality •nd then libert1• Nov Llneeln ••••• in thl1 epeech ta reverae tht1 erder in setting l 1berty as th• orla1M1 ··oe'n.eeptlen, •• he had befere tented "Liberty to all," ~ principle of the Deelaratien (p. 513). Jut el eevhere he 1aya a · · 1 I believe that the deolaratienthat "all "'fin are created equal" l• the gr••~ ('und1••nt:al prlnaipl• upon vhlch eur f9M t i.Qtih.~~l- . i"••~ "f ~ 1 ·479) I . l.t le tha feundt.ng prinelple to be kept: tn vlev, !er ln1t•na•, when the terrlteriea pa1a eut ef a state ef nature and the !•undatiena of aeeiety are latd. What do•• Llneeln censider t:• be the real relatton •f these twe prlnclple•? De Tequev1ll• lri th• ohapter inquiri"' .. Whr10. . .oratie Natlana Shew a More Ardent and Enduring Leve o! lqual tty than •! Liberty•. (n. .1yr11y in AMtlll• II, ii, t) een1lder1 lt.berty and equality two d v•r•• aM in •P•ndent thtng1 1 ef vhloh equality pertain• pri-rlly ta th• •••lat, liberty t:e the pelltlcal sphere. Yet he ad•lta that ultl..tely, radlaally, ceneldered the t"t are what weuld be called tn legtoal ter•a •co•..naurately unlveri,t,• that 11, they i•ply eaoh other• · It la pe•alble t• l••8ine freedom and equallty veuld •••t an I extre•e polnt at which and blend. Lincoln take• exactly tht.a '*extr•••" .ul•• · '.ff8, bbit11-'111"r'i1•t• eut hl1 underatandlng of the prlna1ple ef equal1ty with respect t• the alavery que1tlen, whlch would appear to be prt.aarlly a queatlen of 11berty • On the ether hand, ...h•. lnt~rprete equal lty ef ereat; ion t:• -•n •r•ol••lY the .PO•••••l•n'ef 11 unallena-le rlght•"• chief wh1eh le peilltt.eal liberty. The Deolarat:1en. alttwugh by ne aeana declaring •en equal J.n Ill [!lltct1, ••Iii �- 11- At the Srime time> true t:o the openness_ deman<ted by the prtnc.i.ples he usually abstains from the rhetorlcal compulsion of specific pleas, these sentences of his .last public address, deallng with~ burning problem of the moment, are typlcal1 In the Annual Message of Dec. 1863 and accompanylng Proclamatlon, I pre~enterl ~ plan of re-constructlon (as the phrase goes) which, I proml!ied, if adopted by any State,- should be acceptable to, and sustalned by, : the Executive gov.e rnment of the nation. I distinctly stated that this was not the only plan which mi5ht: possibly be Rcceptablea ••• (p. 797). · Instead of att~mptinp, to compel the people t:il ·a co1:itse deduced . dogmatically, in the manner of an ideoloe,tst:, h~ presented in the words of the London Spectator, A poli.tlcal transparency, ln which the nation could see an lndivldual character of great power working out the problems set before them all ••• He manages to make these problems supremely absorbing, and he does it by making almost every speech an interpretation of the founding documents, in whlch he reveals at once their inexhaustible radical t.ty and their enduring applicability - by g.lvlng ,Americans a secular complement to the Scriptures (p. 84). With respect to the promissory character of democratic principles, Lincoln 1mder:scores lt by projecting the . growth of the past into the futures There are already among us those, who, if the Union be preserved, wl 11 l lve to see lt contain two hun<1re<1 ann fifty mll 1 ions. The struggle of today, ls not altoP-eth~r for t.oday .. it ls for a vast future also (p. 635, cf, PP• 681, 75f1). The present is thus understood as being the sponsor of the futures yet the future · ts, 1.n turn, nothing but t[le magntftcation of the past (cf. p• 656). But polttlcally the American past ls of a. pecullar sorta it ts not an extensive, unbroken tradition but t:he memory of a s1.ngle, lntense event - just as a fabric of reason beg.1.ns with a principle from whlch lt is derived, so the history of democracy beglns with the Revolutlon. Lincoln intends to assure that that beelnntng ls present to the futur", that that event remains the tradltion which governs the future. For the prlnciples of the fathers are, by their \lery nature, the r.oot of the future insofar as it ls good. An<l finally, wlth respect to the passive and incurious mode in which the democratic principles of equality and liberty tend to be accepted, it is significant that Lincoln himself never attempts to raise the question of their truth, nor even .to supply a defl.nl.tion, exc.ept in extremely slmple, and negative terms. So he says, �-14- state of nature exists, Cengreae. with the aid ef that "standard •axia for free society" (p. l61), the principle of equall.ty, 11 laya tbe foundations ef society" (p. 479) • pelltlca precedes eeciety, not the reverse (p • . 279). Thua, since 1001.ety ls 1ria~qallf based on pell.ti.cal pri.neiplea, which .theaaelves nave a -r• and, finally, a rtl\g11u1 basia, Aaerican lite depends ulttaately en a higher source. And ••• by his reference to the principlet ef equallty, Lino•ln realnda the natl•n which laeka the earth-born equality of coa•n · blrth, teuted for Athena t.n the Her•QUI• ef a coamn high . paternal origins it la a natien equal •un er God." III. the Second Paragraph Now we are enga$ed in a great ctvll war, testing whether that nation, or •ny natten so conceived and .so dedicated, can long endure. In hie •iddle paragraph Llnooln passes fre• "four acere and aev&n years age• and •our fathers" to "nev" and "we•, fro• the Aeneratl•n of the Rev•lution to the generation ef the ' Rebellion, ef the "great civil war", which, ln its enor11lty, he had in the·daya •f the victory ef Gettysburg teraed, in Hiltonlc language, a "stgantlc Rebell ton .. (p. 709, ala• P• 702). Indeed there was to hi• aeaetht.~ ef the .Fall ln the wanten destructien ef our national fabric, with all its benefits, tta 11e11ories and its hopes, •••• Will you hazard ao desperate• step, ••• while the eert·a1n ills you fly t•, are greater than all the real enes yeu fly fre11? (First Inaugural Addreaa, P• 584) Yet in that very a,..eoh Lineoln aaintained the right of revolution (p. 587), whleh he had already aaaerted in the House as a "sacred right" during the war with Mexico, in a speeeh attacki~ the President fer waging, without. consulting Congress, a leng, aggressive and 1..,ral var (p. 209). · But, he aalntat.nec:t,11 the actl•n of the seuthern st•t•• was not revolution, er aecessien, but "rebellion" (p. 602), · · Why was it net seceaslon7 The word, he declared to Congress, i11plles the legality of states leaving the Unien as statea. But, he had said, I. hold, that ln conte•plation of universal law• and ef theCanetltuti.on, . tpe Union of these States 1s perpetual (p. 582)~ This ls · because the Union represents the fundamental social caapact1 aa Locke says in Ihe S~con!! treatise 2f Ctvtl Goverm1ent1 That which ..akes the coaaunity and brings aan out ef the loose state of nature lrito one politic aociety ts the agreeaent which �everybody has with the rest to incorporate and act as one body, and s.o to be one dlsti.nct commonwealth. The usual an.d almc~t only way whereby t:hl9 union ts dissolved is the inroad of for\.'ign force making a conquest upon them ••• (para. 21 t, of, 243). Secession of any sort therefore does violence to pollt:lcal society itself and ts simply insupportable. But formally lt was a theory of statehood .which allowed Lincoln to maintai.n the absolute p..,rpet:ulty of the Union, a theory which again turned about the date and wordi~ of the Declaration of Independence.. He observed that that document first declared the "united Colonies" "free and independent st:at:es" (p. 603), so that the Union, whlch had preceded independence. hlid certainly preceded statehood. Accordingly he denied that the new Confederacy was right ln claiming that the Art i.cles of Coo.federat: ion adopted by Congress in the year af'ter the Declaration, .according to which MEach state retains its sovereignty, freedom, and independencett (Art. II), repreeented a kind of prototype pertod, a state of nature ~ so to speak, for the States, in which thelr original sovereignty · dlsplayed itself. For the Union, having prec~ded the Declaration, . !! fortiori preceded any organic law, as shown by the Preamble of tht: Constitution. which speaks merely of ·establishing " a ~ perfect Unton"' (p. 582). The states had never existed 11 out of" the Uni.on, . but had entered it, insofar as they were entitles at all, only as colonies, or, if territories, from the state of nature' (p. 479)1 Our States have neither 11ore nor less. power than that reserved them in the Union by the Constitution - no one of them ever · having been a state out of the Uniona The orlglnal ones passed into the Union even ~fore they cast off thelr lirltlsh colonlal dependence, ••• ,. The new ones only took the designs.ti.on of States on comtng into the Union, while that name '-ra.s f tr st adopted for the old ones in and by the Declaration of Independe < : •••• Having never been States, either in substanc~ 'or in name, outside of t:he Union, whence this magical omnipotence of "State rights", asserting a claim of power to !awfully destroy the Union ltself7 (pp. 603·604. cf. P• 572) • .... " Hence the assumption of the states• power of lawful witttdi:awal ~as a "sophlsm" (p. 603).. Lincoln's term "civil war", i.11pl'les precls~ly the denial of the Confederate view, that it is a "war between the States.• · ' This 1s only apparently an appeal to•er~ dates. · Here history, ln the providential course lt . seeras to run on this continent, dlsplay the nature of the case, for the Unlon comes naturally before the states, b~ing the ground and guarantor of that popular goverl'l.lll,ent which is the incarnation of the founding principles. Thi~ le . expres$ed in its instrument, the Constitution, in two places. Fire ·~.: ln its Preample1 the very phrase, .. We, the people", le meant to ind lcate t,hat only a unlted people, ·speaking in it:e own voice, can sanction republican fundamental law - as Lincoln had pointed out, it: had been precisely this phrase which was altered in the new ,southern �-16document to •we, the deputl•• of the sovereign and independent States•, in aeoerdance with the fact that the new Deelarat1ona had. omitted the words -all ..n are ereated eqwa1.• •Why thla dellberata preaalng eut •f vtew th• rlghta of •en and the authertty ef the pectple7• he ••k• (p. 607). seoendly ln lte bodya the Cenatitutlon provides that "The Unlted St:atea ahall guarantee to every atate ln the Union a republican fora of gever1t11ent• (Art. IV, Sec. 4), •• that if a atato ••Y lawfully g~ out of the Union, having done so, lt uy alee dlseard the relf)Ubllcan for• of Gevern11ont1••• (p. 608, ef, P• 740) • · the Union is reapenalblle not eniy for th• eatabliahaent but al10 for pervasiven••• of republican institution•• But «le T•equev111e ••Y•• Th• •overetgnty ef the Union la an abatract beln.l•••t the sovereignty of the atatea if perceetibla by tho eaally understood, and constantly active {DtlJllC[ICY !D Aurtc1, l, xvltl } , ••n•••• Lincoln's effort ia, without detriment to tho dl1tlnctlveneaa of the states (p. 446), to turn this abstraction into a palpat.le feeling, as 11Uch •• anywhere ln thla speech, ln which out of tactful respect for the fact that .it is a natlerual but not a federal cemetery which is being dedicated, the w.rd "Union• never appears. Now the right ef aeceeaion being rejected, what happens to the right of revelutlen? Lincoln thinks on thi• crucial matter as a radical conservative. That le, when charged with revolutionary vieva he protest• his eeneervatlaa'i What la conservatiaa? ls it net adherence to the old and trl•d• against the new and untried? We stick to, eentend !or, the · identical old policy on the point in controversy which w~s adopted by •our fathers who fra11ed the govermaent ·under which we llve" (p. 528), . · but alnce the controversy referred to is the extension of alavery, which Llnceln opJ>Gsed with all hls ai.ght, his v"ry opposition to change t.1 made in the spirit of the Revolution. ' In other wrda, in this country, whose original government vae cenatituted by revolution, the aoat pregreaaiv• side tries most faithfully to return to the beginnings, so that even innovations are aade in a context of rational arguMent with the fathers (p. 525). It haa once and !or all preeapted the Revolution, embodied in the process of change by majority decision, so t~t henceforth all rebellion is counter- · revolution • . In a well-f11unded pol tty, justice ls almost o•lncident with organic law, and a sense of justice with the intention to preserve it. In practice this means, on the one hand, that bad laws �.. I 7 .. should be repealed as soon as possible, still while they - contlnue 1.n force·, for the sake of exa11ple, they should be religiously observed (p. 81), · even 1.f 1.t is expected that they will be .held unconstitutional (p. 58 ~ and on the other, that no law or decision need become 9• a rule of polit:ical action" (p. 418, cf. p .. 396) until it is judged to harmoniz( with t.he intent ion of the Founders. · The right to revolution does remains however it ls clearly c1rcumscr.ibed, n.nd :tn such tP-rms as to reveal the chief function of the Conatltut'-on in a working democracy c If, by mere force of numbers, a majority should deprive a · ~lnorlty c.•f any clearly written constitutional right, le might, tn a moral pob1t of view, justify revolution .. certainly would, if such a !°-ight were a vital one (p. 5'84). The issue mu~t, then, be one of constitutional rlghts dented, or extra-legal action upon i.t constitut~s an upris1ng against the people• So Lincoln says of th~ aecessiqnisttu .These politicians are subt i.l-e and profound on the rlght:B of. mlnoritieB. They are not partial to that power which me.de the Con~t:ltution, and speaka from the preamble. calling 'itself "We, the People_" (p. 606). Thus any sectional or factional uprisif\S, upon a mere feeling of dissent or discuntnet, or ev"n ort a plea of "social just tee", no matter how worthy of sympathy, b~ing dir~cted against that government which ls itself the first living and prospering incarnati.on of the r~volutionary principle, conoucing ~ore essentially to the ends of civil and religtous liberty (p. 76) than any previol!sly known, wi.thout ' vlable alternative, and moreover as Lincoln emphasized, containing the means of lts own a~endmenc wt.thin itself {p. 587)~ ls a catastrophe of a p~culiarly _ allful sort. Llncoln d~cl ined to participate in it even where hla sen•e of jt•stice was completely outraged (p. 3]6). For the man who proposes to abandon such a Government, . would d<.' welt to consider . in deference . to what princ-lple it ls that: he does it' what bette· he i.s likely to get in U:e !l!teach .whether the substltute will 6lve, or be intend~d to give, so much of good to the people? (p. 607). . . The question is thus always, in Lincoln's a<laptat1.on of Hamlet's weighing. of suicide (III, i, 82)• Will you hazard so desperate a step, .... whi.le .the certain llls you fly to, are greater than all the real ones you fly from7 (p. 584). �·18- Thle , v.ar, Lincoln goes on to say., ls a .tJ!.1..k• The oriaia has the nature of a teat, because, aa he had aatd 1.n -iits ..aaage to the Congress vhlch he had called into special session to aeet on that fateful . date e! July .4, at the beginning of the war ln 1861, thla goverruaent ls an experl•enta · · Our pepular govern•ent has often been cal led an experlaent • Two points ln it eur people have already eettled - the auoceaaful t•t•rl19hi~, and th~ eueceaaful 1~11ni•f•{1Dft ef it. one atlll 0 re11a ne • ~. auooeasful 11tifilY'nc1 aga net a foraldable internal . attempt to overthrow 1t (p. . • · . . As a final phase of 4n experiaent the war represents one teat for all cases, a aodel caae of a natl.en established' on expltcit prinoiplea, ln which two rutceasary foundi~ conditions, na•ely the vtade• ef the fathers and the reeeptivity of the contin~nt had been optiaal • lf. this ?14tlon fails then it la de11onatrated that "any natlen• muat fall. Thia ls how the American enterprise had. been underatoed fro• the founding1 lt 1ee11e te have been reserved", says the ft.rat Federal tot 11 to the people of thie country, by their conduct and exaaple, to decide the i11portant question, whether oocletlea of aen are really capable or not, of eetabl iahi"R good govet·!Wetlt fro• reflectlen and choioe ••• , and this very thlng h•d •oved de Tocqueville to write his book (I, xvli9 end). When the Thucydt.dean Pericles calla the whole city "an edueatlen to Greece .. (II, 41)he •eans that Athene 11 the· unique and t.ni•ltable cynosure of the Greeke1 when Lincoln calls the government an experiaent and the present war a teat.1for all natl•n• he offers Amert.ca as a practical poli.tt.cal pattern to the werld. The funda11ental iseue, whlch t.n the course of the war had beoo•e "distinct, staple and inflexible• i1 an lssue which can only be tried by war and decided in victory (p. 787). But how can a war be a teat of anythi.ng? The var vlll, .Llnceln says at lt11 beginntnai, teach th~t when ballots have fat.rly and constitut't.onally decided, there can 6e no succeaa!ul appeal baak te bullet•••• (1861, P• 608). Is Lincoln rutt aelf •contradt.ctory here? How could the suooeasful u1e of bullets tn thi• var preve that there can be ne succeeeful appe•l te bullets in republlca7 Or, lf the argu..ent ia that strength at war ls the converted strength of the ballet box, will it not be necessary to say that every outco•e proves the principle of popular eoverelgnty? Certainly, Lincoln f&und his old "faith that right 11akea might" (e.g., P• · 536) corroborated by the popul.• r aupport the Unlen ' co!Ulanded {pp. 606-7, 764, 786)1 to hi• the solid conservatism of the 11ajortty was a sign of political soundnesa • . But as the war went on �he looked ure often to a higher judge, to .. the God of battles .. of the Revolution (p• 264) ,· who• the theoreticians o! popular governnem: had not been able to aveld invoking. In the Seoon~ Ireatloe g.! Civil Goyer~en;. Locke says, not perhaps with much inner conv1ctlon, but rater driven by the argu. .nt, that where there 1• no judicature on earth te decide eantroveraiea amongst men, God in heaven 11 Judge (par••· 241-242, of. 168). And the Second Inaugural Address (1865) ls a fervent reference to Psalm 19,91 qth• judg••nta of tha Lord, are ttu• and righteoua altegether• (p. 793, of. Letttr ~ A{ G, Qqd111 1. Aprll 4, 1864, Which anticipates · the Inaugura ). . . And in a private ••dtaation on the divine will "net written to be seen of men• in 1862, he ascribes the dlreotlen and the outcn•e of the war entirely te the will of God who uaes the contestants ae his •huraan instruaentalitles" (p. 655, cf. P• 610). While there ls still peaoe, Ged'a juds•ente are ~lven by hie •8Nat tribunal, the A•erlcan people• (Firat Inaugural, P• 587), but ~nee at war, the Almi~hty adjudicates. Frcn• the day Lincoln left for wa·• hington, as Prealdent~e1ect, he did what the A•ertcan people have always expected their fallible fellow citizens who rule the• to do - he co•mitted himself te God, (p. 568), aa the only power htih enough to oversee the tendency •f the whole, and in this spirit he CGnttnued1 I olalm not to have controlled events, but confess that eventa have controlled me. New at the enp of struggle the nation's cenditien la not what either any 11an deviaed, er expected. God alone can clat.11 !2. A, q, H9dge1. April 4, 1864). plainly three y11tars party, or it (LetterI Exactly what the test · was to prove Lincoln had· stated already in his •Perpetuation• speech o! 1838. It was to b~· a practical de•onatratian of the truth of a propositi•n• which had hitherto been cnna1dered, at best no better, than proble11atloal namely, the ~rAtltv 2! A pegple IA gove~n themoelyes (p. 82, cf. P• 1 • "The experiment is successful", he had then added, but as the self• evldence of the axlom · e! equality had begun to fade, se it• practical oonsequence, the gevernaent, was thrown t.n doubt. The more precise forra of. the questlon n.w lsa . ·whether di.scentented indlvlduale, too few in nmnbers to contr•l ad11lnistration. according to organic law, in any case, can always, upon the .pretenses 11ade ln thle case, or on any other pretenses, or arb.ttrarlly, without any pretense. break up their Government, and thus practically put an end to . free goverlll'llent upon the earth •• �-20•ts th•~•· in •11 republtoa, thls inherent and fatal weak"-••T• •Huat a Geverftll8nt, of neoe11lty, be too tor the 11bei:tl•• of lt• own peeple, or Kl!k te •alntaifi?ta evn ex1~teneet• n1ou t•• (p. 598). · That • natien, heir te the •tuM••ental bl•••lna•~ •! th• •falr•et portion of the earth•, lnvulnera~l• t• lnva1l•n• •• ~•11 ••tea fref· gover1111ent, eeuld enly "die by auieide• (pp. 76-77) had lene see1ied plain te Lt.nceln, though at ·the t i - (lRl8) 1'• had tboual\t that thi• internal trlal would take th• fer• of that p•rv•,•l•n of de11c .cracy, whioh he called •ubeeracy•, in vhleh. JtMPl• l.Wt.• vldt1ally forget te ~evern thnaelv••• Nev lt tum1 eut that ln hit century the teat of endurance baa taken th• for11 't elvll war, i n whl<·h a whole a•g•nt of the Mtian refuaea td aubaltl 'i• lte !'.'I t• StY!·~~rtl• t:: . ··~. :-::~ .. Lincoln goee ona We are .•et en a Areat battle•fleld o! that war. But he avoids any particularization of the circu••tancea ef the battle of the great . war 1 iV§tC~.~. tit4 treated that at length. p,re~ . test Lo::·-··.-"·"" -' ··- ·" ,::;: . :... - .~---=a:~..--:r..:::::::.-q:;::.r:;ctr.J•P"' We have colle to dedicate a pertlon of that field, as a · final resting place fer thoae who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It ls altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. A pi.rt of the fi.eld, which had, incidentally, been called Ce•etery Hl11 even before the battle, ls being eet aside as the earthly dom .ln of these newly dead soldier• vhe, ae the father• gave the nat1 .on birth insured lt11 continuing life. IV. The Third Paragraph But in a larger sense we can not dedicate we can net consecrate • we can not hallow • this ground. The third paragraph has features of an incantation, repetition and rhy11e, but it ls a negative incantation. It begins by warding off an 4!rror1 fit and proper though it may be in a narrow sense to comtuct dedication ceremonies, there la danger that the present gem,ration, txhat •we", •ay substitute the redundant rituals of ded~ .catlon, censecrat1on and devotion for dedication in the sense of the fathers, 'that dedication of a piece of ground may take the place of 1:he larger ded'lcation to a proposition called for. by the great war. So one can hear tlhe steady lambs of Lincoln's three-line rhyritng ref'raln perturbed by a warntnge11.phasls on "we 11 • �•21- The brave aen, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add ~r detract. With this sentence Lincoln honors at ol'\ee the Union dead, the Union aurvlvora, and genereualy but tactfully, the enell)', fer the phrase "the brave men, living and dead, who atruggled here", with its intranaitlva. uae ef the verb, applies also . to the other alde of whom about an equal number, 23,000 aen, had died (p. 712). Lincoln, unlike Pericles in speaking to the Greek Athenians, always keepe before hl11 the· terrible fact of the civll war, that Alierlcana are fighting Aaerican1. He aaya not one derogatory werd of the transient enemy a -three weeks after the Addreaa, Lincoln issued a Proclaut;.ien ef Aanesty and Reoonstruction giving tull pardon to all ordinary ct.tizena whe would resuae allegiance to the Unt:on (p. 738 f.). As . always, he ·av•lda 11.aklng dlviaiena, fore Our strife pertains to eurselvea • to the passing generatlens of mens and it can, wlthout convulal•n, be hushed forever with the passing of one generation (p. 679, of. P• 588), 1 and What I deal wt.th ta ~9.9 AIJ'.&! .f9!': malicious deal 11)8 (p. 650) • He goes ona The world will little note, nor long remeaber what we say here, but lt can never forget what they dld here. · as It la. known that Lincoln considered the speech a failure a speken speech, for he h.ad told a friend right after its delivery1 •Lamen, that speech won't ocour. It is a flat fallure and the people are disappointed.• The ea11e thing had happened with respect to hls second moat renowned speech, the Second Inaugural, ·about which he had written to a friend• · I expect the latter ta wear as well as • perhaps befter than • anything I have producedf but I believe it is not ilQlediately popular (p. 794)• In view of Lincoln's correct appraisals of hi& ~peeches, the sentence cannot be regarded as a conunent on the Address1 rather, besides carrying the meaning siven above, it serves as the counterpart of one in his previous Annual Messaget We ~ we are for the we say this (p. 688). Union~ The world will not forget that The state11ent of ai11 has been once and for all made, and now all is concentrated on its mil ltary !9.9.~.!e~..!•~Jlli• t:=,";;:, .. ~ ... __ ...... _ ~· • ••.:.::::.:..• ,; ; .;..:.-:.~~.~:.. ··..:·...~....:;;.. ;;;..,1. ~ ;. ;::-,.-:-..:;~..;.:-:;; =-~:::;,.. : ... And then come the last two sentences, . half the speech in length, wh1.ch develop its expl lcit theme - the second dedtcat\qn. of the �-22· natt.nn, ln this consecrated pl•~· ll!Dt (Lincoln reaoved a fourth .. here" fr•• th• ft.ul veraten), "' " · Tt l• f•r ua the llvtns. rat:her, to be dedlcated here to the un!tnlahed WGrk whloh they vha fou,!ht here hav• thua far so nobly advanced. lt t1 r•ther fer ua to be here dedtcated to the great task r•••lnlng before ua • Practt.cal ly, th• "un!lnlehed work"; .. the great t.a11tk r••alntng before 11 , ta the winning o! thtt W'-1" (ef. Jh 791) • bttt in 1lgnlftcance it . ta ao••tht.~ Ar•ater, tl\e 1ueeeelt!ul .PMl'l•t.en ef the expert.11ent nf ~npular !•v•rn••nt. · tJa - ·;·:,.~.":""'~~~~:~· · :-:.';: .~:. ~~"-~~:-~:!.. · ~~t.: : ." ' ;" :'" .~~·;:.·~ ..;~ .-~-J?-~ .• ~ Th• next two clau1e1 1 ·~•lft in that 1pell•l t.ke .diction which gtvea eucee11\ve cola ldentlcal er n••r-tdentlcal endlnge, give the nat.ure qf thl1 new d8dleatlon1 it •••ns · I that frGa these honered dearl we take lnere&$ed devetlon t• that caua• !ftr whleh the~, ~ave the l•st: ful 1 l'leasure of devothm • th.at we her• hi8hly reaolve that these dead shall nftt have dled tn va1.n .. In invok1"8 the dead, Lt.neoln t.a touohing what ln hla Flrat Inaugural he ttalled the 11)'11tlc ohotc1e er •e•ory;'. atret:chlng fro• every battle•.fi.eld and patriot ~rave, to every 1 lving heart and hearth-etol"tt• •• (p, 5ftA). .. . I 'fe '10 thle hf.It al~lftB the la~U&f';t!t of (!hurch and . legielatlve assemhlye 'fhe dedloat:lon, · the eena•cratt.en, .t h• hat lowing, the .devotion Lt.ncoln i1r••• 1.a ofen a h1.s Rf'ttltch pol ltlcal . sort. He had uried lt .already 1n 1R3R, in "The Perpetuation nf our Polltlcltl Inatltl;ltlons .. , Let rfJv«trence for the lawa.~.becol'le thsJ91\t;1 0 alte11~1on of the natl.ant and let the old"!'and the you ·. 1 the rt.oh an ·the po«n'• th8 ~rave a~ the 8•Y• nf all sexes and tca~ues, and oolai-• and eendltlena. aaorlflce unceattln81Y upon lts altars (p. Rt). · nu•an Llncnln ls dftllberateiy ooneecrati.1\A poll.tlc1, and the ~reat agency of reverenee la , •••ery, wtl~fQ .,1 l th\naa .. Se•• hallowed" (p. 191. The laat: two olauaee !lV• the efteot. of that thi.1 f reedoll - nattnn. undf.tr n,.d, ~he new dedicatlona ahalt have a new birth ef �-23The wonds 11 under God" were not in the flrst draft1 they were .reported in the newspaper verslons of the ap•ech as delivered and incorporated by Lineeln later (cf. 1s. 752). Why did he add the117 ·· I¥• Under th_, heading "Of Clvll Reli~ion", the last in Sogial C1ntr15t, Rousseau describes the clvll rell~i•n of repub cs wh{ch it le the business of the acverelgn to set out, not as retl~loua de1t•a1 but as 11 8entlaenta •f 1octablllty". They ought t• be staple, few ln nuaber, preclaely fixed, and without explanation or co••nt. The existence of a powerful, wlae, and benevolent Divlnlty, vhe fer••••• and prevldee .t he life to 0011e, the happlness ef the . juat 1 the puniahaent of the wicked, the .. sanctity of the aeeial contract and the laws ••• (IV, viii). This la precisely the nature of Lincd~'s faith as continually set out tn hla public pronauncMtente (pp. 65~, 727, 757, 793). The natlen 1.a under a "beneficent Father who dvelleth in the Heavens" (p. 728). . It has a double parent•~• • the !ore-fathers and the F•ther above. Wlth the1e words, Lincoln, then~ tnvokes at once faith, the pe1:sonal trust in a auperlitr betng, and religion, the public obligation to reverence. · · Thia natlonwill have .. a ·new birth of freedo•"· Thoee werds were not, at the time, felt to be at all innocuous• Nor are they, if "of freedo•" la read not as an objective genitive, so that the natl.on is said to ~ive blrth to a new freedom, but as a parallel to •conceived ln Liberty•, ae that the nation itself ts said to be rebnrn. The Chteago ~. tnreperttng on the speech, aald that in thia phrase "Mr. LIJ\COin did foully traduce the 11otlves of the tHm who were elaln at Gettysburg", for· they fousht only to preserve the eld govern11ent. Now, as has been shown, Lincoln in fact &8reed with thla conservative vlew of the struggles he bad sai.d so explicitly1 · I ••t I am exceedingly anxious that thla Union, the Constitution, and the libertle1 of . the peGple shall be perpe~uated in accordance with the ori~lnal idea for which that strt.lggle was aade, and I ehal l be raost happy indeed if I shall be . an humble lnstl'Uaent. · in the hand . of the A1111.ghty, and this, . hls almost chosen a people 1 for perpetuating the object of that great struggle ' {p. 57:>). And yet theChidago Times was right to 1.ntentlon, a ra teal oppost.tlon to the conserv.atta• expressed ln their slogan the Union as t.t was". ln 1R54 Lincoln suspect an underlying radical De110crat!.c party' a klnd of "The Constltutlon as i.t is and had satd at Peorla1 Let u~ re-adopt the Declaratton of .Independence, and With lt, .the practices and policy, whlch har110nize wt.th lt. Let north and .south • let all A•ericana - let all lovers of liberty everywhere .. join in the great and good work. If we do this, we shall not only have saved the Unions but we shall have so saved lt, as to make, and keep 1.t, forever worthy of saving. We shall . have so saved it, that the succeeding mtlllons of free �-24- kappy people, thft worlrt ovt!r, shal 1 rl8e 1.ip, and cal 1 us blessed, to the latest generatlons (p. 315)" The last phrases are a para.phrase of the Hagnlfleat, the words of the ntother-to•be of the Messlah1 "For, behold, front hence forth all ~e""ratlons shall call nte blesse"" (Luke t, 48). It i8 Lincoln's aweso11e lctea that the generatlon of the clvll war, undtitr his leadership, ls 81: once the savior and the par.ent of the . savior nation,· that America is to pol itlca "all'fto.8 t" as Israel was to the spirit• That means that for th& Union side the war ls a kind of second comlnA, a second brlnglng-forth, after four score and seven years. Llncoln has converted Jefferson's extravagant opinion that "a llt:tle rebellion, now and then, is a gt>olt thing" (Letter 12. Hadlsin, January 30, 17R7)- into a serious view concerntng the perlodlc rP-hir.th of the Revolution - to occur, evldently, in fullest force · ln·the fourth g"neratlon, once ln a century. . In this idea Llnooln recognizes that a country founded ln a revolut\on ls bounc1 to have a Aeneratlonal problell• . For the document. con~tltutl~ lts p;overmaent is ordalnerl and · eRtabllshed. as- the prlnclple of popular government demands, ln the ftrst p~rson plural; lt beglns1 "We the penple." Yet thls can mean literally only the · r.atifylng generation, thereafter the fundamental act . of self· govern~nt ls lnherltec1 - but self-determinatlon by tradition ls a ktnd nf paradox. This dlfficulty lay hehlnd Jefferson's advocacy of · re~ular revolutlona Can one generation bind ariother,·ancl all others, ln succession forev8r? l .~hlnk not. The Cr~ator has made the earth for the living, not the dead..... A generatton may bi.mi itself as · long .a s lts majority continues ln l lfea when that, has dlsap• peared, another majority ls tn place, holds all the rights and powers their predecessors once held, and may change thelr lawe and lnstltutlons to suit themselves. Nothlrig then ls unch11n~P-able but the inherent anrl unalienable rights of 11an (Letter~ J• Cartwright, June 5, 1R24). · Jefferson's radical solution to the problem of changlnS. generations was opposed hy Lincoln on the ground that majority rule itself as · well as mlnor\.ty rlghts were guaranteed by nothing but a commitment to the fun<Jamental law and the governmP-ntal institutions. The very raaterial success of "the popular principle applied to government" . acerbates the problem • . Lincoln, on several occasions, for instance to Congress ln 1R61 and 1862, had given exultant accounte of the fanta8tlc .increas., of population, elsht-fold ·. since the founding 11nd contlnui.ng, incredibly, even throu~h .. the )lar (pp. 72R, 761), with the expectation at the sAme rate of growth of 250 nitlllon by 1910 ann a proportionately even greater lncrease of prosperity (pp. f.'34-615. 6R1). But when making up Auch an account a quart?er of a century earl ler, ln the speech "On the Perpetuation of our PolttlcAl Jnstltutlons" he had a<t<leda �-25- We, when 11ountins the stage of existence, found ourselves the legal inheritors of these fundamental blessinss. We toiled not: ln the acquirement or establiahllent of them - they are a legacy bequeathed u1, by a ~ hardy, brave, and patriotic, but ~ laaented and departed race of ancestors (p. 77). · The generational. dileraaa raised by success ls that the epigoni, the successor generation•• bred in that most desirable ignorance, the ignorance of anarchy and despotls11, and 11tatak{ng the drained habits of their parents for the tradition, will in the low ef political passion areuae themselves by giving current problems a cataclysmic cast, that they aay, developing an appetite for unknown terror, be · willing to cure dlasatisfaction by catastrophe. A deliberate return to the founding revalut~on alone can forestall · e~ch an event, or if, as in the case ef the Clvil War, it beco. . a a fact, can turn it into an act of salvation. Lincoln bei\tinually mak&a the effort to . convert the war in this way, even coflparing its financial funding to that of the Revolution (p. 602). , There ls, of course, an assuMption in this which goes beyond Jefferson's reliance on the mere principles of 1776. It is that constitutlonal severn11ent is, in fact, the best 11eans of realizing the11, and ts, therefore, to be equally cherished. .. Lineoln held · this asau•ption ln full awareness of the 11lxed and ma1111ath character which the nation was to atta1n in the next century, and this is why . he saw the incidents of the Civil War as "phllosophy to learn wisdom fro11" "for any future great natienal trial" (p. 764). f a .Z:::st.ftW l llH A - - ..f. What then, 1Mre precisely, does Lincoln aean by •a new birth .of freedo11"7 As ·the nation was cenceived in liberty and dedicated to equality, so it ls to be reborn ln freedort• That 11eanethat . ln this speech 11 freedom 11 covers both equality of creation and the Latinate "liberty•, that ls, civil freedom, which Lincoln elsewh~re calls the jewel of liberty within the fartily of freedom1 it stands at once for ••n's riature as a creature under God and for hls means .of fulfill!~ that nature in civil seciety, as part of a natiop (cf. P• 403). , This means ls self•gavernaient, which Lincoln res~ects equ.lly with its end, calling it •rtgN&~absolutely and eternally right" (p. 303). In fact, he defines it coextensively with liberty, which means for "each 11an to do as he pleases with himself" (p. · 748) 1 I trust I und.e rstand and truly estimate the rtght of self• government. My faith in the propost.tion that each man should do precisely as he pleases with all which ls exclusively his oWn, lies at the foundation of the sense of justice there is in •e (p. 303, cf• PP• , 394) • . I11pli.ed in this is first, that poltti.cally, where there must be submission to a govern11ent, this must be by the consent of the governed, understood as . A 11ajority, held in constraint by constt.Uuttonal checks and limitations, and always changing easily with deliberate changes of popular opinions and sentilllents ••• (p. 585), �-26discovered in elect1ens 1 for We can not have .free government without electlonst••• The strife of the electien ia but huaan-nature practically applied to the facts of the case (pp. 763-764). And. secondly·, ·~•no•ically, that a 11an ~•t be abl• to acquire and hold so11ethlng of hia own, -.iat have, not the assurance, but the possibility of acquiaitlena Lincoln 11ade this a1Jit")t aelf• govern11ent a subject of hla firet Annual Heeaage t• Ceqre11 ln 1861 (pp. 633, ef. P• 501). . . ·. of ••t Now when Lincoln in the decade before and durlng the war out his vlews on freedoa, h~ did it almet lnvarla)>ly in refarerac• to lts antithesis - slavery (cf. P• 303 and P• 347). By •a new birth of freedom• Lincoln 11eana the readoptlen of the Deelaratlen in a . very specific sen••• a aenae which the ordinary •conae~atlvea• strongly disapproved. During the war Lincoln expressed his views on the slavery · question succinctly in a private letter. They are charaoterletic of the double nature of his politi.cal opinions, rever•M• for the laws combined with radioa11ty •f principle. He ~alda I am naturally anti•elavery. If slavery la not wrong, nothing la wreng" . .I can not r•••ber wben I did .not so thlrik, and f'eel. ·: .And . ·iy•t 1 I, hA•·· never understood that the Pres idericy conferred upon me an unrestricted rlght to act offlclally upen tlhiai judg11ent and feeling (April 4, 1864, cf. PP• 395, 652). For, as he said in his Firat Inaugural, not only did he have under the Constitution no lawful right to do so, but he even held hl•••lf bound by his oath of office to en!orcethe constitutional provtatpn for the reclai11ing of fugitive slaves (pp. 492, 580-581) - it wae more i.11porta.nt . o preserve the very bas 1 e of 11.berty than to secure t iml'lledlate justice. At the sa11e time he found hi•s6lf. able to base his uncompromising public opposition to slavery~on the ~plnlona e! the . founding father3 (e.g. pp• 272-273) and on the found\ng doouaenta io Whether or not he knew of Jeffereon•a "pblllppic against Negro slavery which Congress had deleted fro• the final draf~. he had no question that the Declaration meant . to include negroes, a view he set · out ln his debate with Douglass I should like to k°"w if taki~ this old Declaration of Independence, which declares th11.t all men are equal upon principle, and raaking exo•ption to it, when will it atop7 If one aan says it· does not mean a. negro • why IlC)t another say it does not 1ftean some other man?" (pp.: 402-403, cf. PP• 360 ff, P• 479). And he had equally no question about the intention of the Constitution He often repeated, the argument from .. necessity .. , that to get the Constitution at all the framers had had to compromise, but that they �-27· had found a way to save in the long run the principle which they could not assert at the J'llO•ent (pp. 304, 313, 358 ff., 403, 423, 479), for When ~he . fathers of the goverruaent cut off the source of slavery by the· abolition of the slave trade, and adopted a systent of restricting lt from the new territories wh&re lt had net existed, I maintain that they placed it wh~re they understood, and .a ll sensible men understood, it waa in the OIJHme ef ultimate extinction (October 13, 1858, et. PP• 394, 416). Accordingly Lincoln whe, as a responsible parti.clpant tn political l lfe, could not support the extre11e of abel ltion, became the laplaeabL~; foe of the 7xttn1ion of slavery • thia single ·issue doatnatea his speeches ·be ore the war (e.g., 170, 339) • a net in !act . brought . him, as lt had Jefferson (p. 272 , back lnto politics, t.n which be had been losing interest (p. 512 • It was an lsaue important to him ln some part because it was so peculiarly connected with the question o .f the axiomatic character of the founding prlnclples, namely wlth the question of their uniyersall~y, (cf. PP• 308, 477). Such proposltlona, ·precisely because they are prlnci.plea of hwu.n nature, pronounced concerning •all 11en", must eventually either altogether fall or altogether preva1.1, both in respect to lnetitutlonet p!. I believe thl& government cannot endure, permanently half slave and half free (1858, P• 372), and to (ndlvlduals1 This ls a world of compensations• and he who would lll! no slave, must consent to .b.E!.! no slave. Those who deny freedom to others, deserve it not fer themeelves1 and, under a just God, can not long retain lt (p. 489, cf. PP• 136, 473). Lincoln. did not regard it aa l11poss1.ble that the nation alght fail, that ls, that the false principle might become generally accepted so that the natien would degenerate into despot·tsm (p. 335) t:o prevent this wa.s precisely hla pol it teal task. So, ance the war had turned out tn be the final means of resolving .the question, for . the very reason that his .. para11ount object.. .wa,s to save the Union, and •••I!S!.t. either to save or destroy slavery (1862, P• 652), he recogni.zed, in hts Second Inaugural Address, that the "ei.ghth of the whole population" who were slaves, were "somehow, the cause of the war" (p. 792), and ·that tn giving freedom to the tlave·, we assure freedom to the ~ ••• (p. 688), for slavery was "that only thing wh:tch ever could brlng thls nation to civil war" (p. 759). And he gave this not only a political but, �-2R· as was in the nature of the case, an economic interpretation, on the principle that bad labor drives out good. So he told a labor dele ... gation that ' ••• the exlsting rebellion 11eans more, and tends to 1110re, than the perpetuation of African slavery • that l.t ta, in . fact, a war upon th~ rights of all working people (March 11, 1864, cf. P• 343). . .· Ihis ls why, just after the victory at Gettysburg, he had been able to call the war a gigantic Rebellion, at the bottom of which ls an effort to . overthrow the principle that all 11en are · created equal•·•. (p. 709). . . . Lincoln had s. veral time.s made a point of the fact that the e word Jtal•v•t!Y"' :de's 'riot appear"·tn; the CofteC:ltutien1 · Thus, the thing ls hid away, lri the constitution, just as an afflicted lll8.n hldea av•y a wen a cancer, which he dares not cut out at once, lest he bleed to death1 with the promise, nevertheless, that the cut·t tng may begin at; the end of a given tl.11e (p. 313). • . ·. . or So also this speech does not contain the word, . but for a different reason1 as the founders had to violate their feelings about it out of political necessity, ao the ti11e had come at the beginning of that year, 1R63, when Lincoln couldlndulge hi.a out of Military necesalty. He used what he considered to be the Prealdent•s war powers to put the Emanci.patl.on Precla11&tlon ln force the states in rebellion (p. 691), a mve he defended with the argUJMnt that the black regl11ents were indispensable to ml.litary success (Letters of Apr~l 4 and August 17, 1864)• Since the Union slave states, l'lke Maryland (p. 749), were proceeding wlth voluntary emancipation, it was plain · that the thing was on the way out. The Union was to be rec•nstru~ted without slavery, . nd so the irgclamat1on. 2.( 6•efta A!!!\ Reconstruotio j. a Lincoln issued three weeks a tftr the Gtt~yabµrg _d_rees provided . (pp. 73R ff., cf, PP• 796 ff). The "new birth of freedom" 11eant for Lincoln the re-adoption of the Declaration ·(p, 315) and the amend11ent o( the Constitution (pp. 679, 785) to make explicit their true intention1 it meant "returning . slavery to the posltiori our fathers gave it" (p. 315), and restoring the republican example to •tta just influence lil the world .. , by · averting fro11 it the charge of hypocrisy (p. 291) • . Llncaln made of the war a purlflcatlon1 · the nation was to be p~ged of inconsistency • for . t.. And now the last clausee and that government of the people, by the.people, for the people, shall not pert:l.h from the earth •. �-29How, to begin with, should we i11agine that Lincoln read this phrase concerning govermaent, a memerable expansion ' on •popular governm~nt''7 Did he streaa the preposltlona •ef•, "by"• "for•• or the noun "people'' which they govern? The diaayllabic rhythm of the speech is best pres~rved by reading trochees• I I I I I I of the people, by the people, for the people, a rhythm which gives equal weight to the people and its relation to the governaent. As was the beginning, se tbe. end of the epeechis directly adapted from the American oratofical tradition, namely fro11 an abol ltioni1t seraon siven_. appropriately, en July 4 of lRSR by the Rev. Theodore Parker1 who had 1•td1 . . De110cracy le direct aelf-government, over all the people, for all the people, by all the people. Besides changin8 the rhythm, Lincoln had, significantly, softened "over" to •or•, avoiding even a hint of deapo.t ism. Thus the people govern 1. by repre1entatives, 2. chosen fro• aMorig theaselves, 3. who rule in the popular interest - a deacription President Lincoln himself exemplifies (cf. P• 756). · . Lincoln does not .say 11 thle government as he had . said "this" nation, for it ia the preservation of popular, that la, elected, govertlllent anyybere which is at stake, though the i..ediate cause for resortil18 te force was certainly the preservation of this . government. But that came to the same _ thl.ngr thus near the beginning of the war Llnceln had teld Congress, called by hlm into special session, again on July 4 of 1861, that he regretfully found • • , J I the duty of e•ploytng the war power in defense of' the Government forced upon hi11 ••• no popular Govermnent can long survive a · marked precedent that those who carry an election can only save ·the Government from iNmediate destru~ion by giving up · the main point upon which the people gave the election (p. 609). Lincoln had begun with the Revolution an~ its statement of principle, the Declaration1 he ends with government and its instituting docUJ11ent, the Constitution. This represents the dl.fferenr in the commitments of the first and the fourth . generations '( As the patriots of seventy-six did to support the Declaration of Independence, so to the support of the Constitution and Laws, le·1 every American pledge his life, hts property, and his sacred honora ... (p. 81, cf. Declaration, end). · · It also represent~ the relation of the Declaration to the Constltuttont the latter ls merely the i.nstrument of the former, as shown tn a sentence Lincoln quotes from the second paragraph of the Declaration 1 �.30:.. . That to secure these rlghts, govern11ent~ are instituted among men, DERIVING THEIR JUST POWERS -!o""ROM THE CONSENT OF THE GOVERNED (p. 304). The gover11111ent ts a metns, and thus a compromise of evils • Madiabwr1 says in the fifty-first Feder1li1t1 But what is gover1111ent itself but the greatest of all reflections ori human nature? If aen were angels, no govern•ent ·vould be necessary. and he warns1 Don't interfere wt.th anything tn the Constitution. • That 11ust be . . tntained, for it is the only safeguard of our liberties (p. 345). And so the preservation of . popular goverruaent is linlced · to .the defense of the American Constitution~ I' _ _ ...:u; ..--~ ..- ... ~;;.-:.'.!".=:::::.•.- .............,..,.... -- ··· This goverill'lent "shall not perish from the earth",· that is ~he "work", the "task.. , the "cause". Lincoln has ended, as he began, with language heavy with the Bible• The good man is perished out of the ekrtha ••d there is none upright amng 11en1 they all lie in wait for bl•ed1 they · hunt every man his brother with a ne• ~M~cah 7, 2), If . this rebellion prevails, this allusion warns, so that "these institutions shall pert.ah" (p. 609), aen will return to that universal state of war, the war of each against all, which prece4es the institution of government1 the Rebellion would undo the Foundlnga for when men, b4f! entering .into society apd civil govertllllent, have excluded force and 1ntaoduced' laws (or the preservation of property, peace, and unity amongst the~selves, those who set up force again ln opposition to the laws do rebellare that ls, bring back again the state of war - and are properly rebels' ••• (Locke, Second Treatise 2.[. Civil Government , para. 226). �-31- Tn Lincoln's words 1 Plainly, the central idea of secess.i.on, is the eesence cf anarchy. A majority, held in restraint by constitutional checks and l~mitation~, and always changing easily with deliberate changes of popular opinions and sentl11ents is the only true sovereign of a free people. Whoever rejects tt, does, of necessity, fly to anarchy or despotism (1861, P• 585). And finally, there is the allusiDn to ·Jere11lah.tO,tl1 The gods that have not made the heavens am the earth, evt!n they shall perish from the earth ••• False gods shall perish, but the ; government of the people shall perish. ~ V• the Speaker After having, at length, considered the speech, it is leglti11ate to consider the speaker. Lincoln ts, at his height, a publtc mane If ever I feel the soul wt.thin me elevate and expand to those dlmen•••ns not wholly unworthy of its Almighty Architect. it is when I contemplate the cause of my country ••• (1839, P• 112). But the American speake~r who, like Lincoln, means to put his whole heart and ambition (p. "Ill) in the service of the body politic. has a peculiar problem, rooted in the quality of American life, which de Tocquevil l& describes in the chapter "Of Some Sources of Poetry Among Democratic Nations".· -1 Nothing concelvab.le is so .petty, so lnslpbt, so crQwded with pal try interests . - in one word so anti-poetic - as the lt.fe of a man in the United States (pemocracy 1n America, II, t, 17). ' This ls because democracy has given up ln dlst&ste the source of aristocratic poetry. the past, while its very principle. that of equality, deprives it, by maklng ' all contemporaries equally mediocre, of -the present. There remain, de Tocqueville says. only three sources to democratic poets• the nation, the future, and God - and thls precisely anticipates the theaee of Lincoln's public poetry. But, as he observes in · the chapter on "Why Ameri.can Writers and Orators Often Use an Inflated Style'•,, lt is difflcul t to oresent these themes at the middle distancea · ln democratic communities, each citizen is habitually engaged in the contemplation of a very puny object t namely, hinlself. If he ever raises his looks higher, he p~rcelves only the hnmens., form of society at large or the stl 11 more imposing aspect of mankind. His ideas are all either extremely minute and clear or extremely general am1 vaguea what lies between �-32- ls a veld (.i!?JJ1., lR). For thls American proble11 of the middle void the very nature of U1e pr\nciples of equality and liberty is responsible, Flr1t 1 11no~ they are axioms of ~penness, that is, pro.positiona et reaaon wh \ch are yet not ~ntended ' as the .theoretical bases of a tetal 1yste•• they provide ne specific authoritative "public ph1.1i.iitiphy 0 , 10 that each issue. ,.aust be dect.ded ·anew on the basis of prlnolplea whose nature lt' ls precisely to give no univocal guldanciet ~e b• politically aware is to be uncertain. Second, sin~• they ar• . intended precisely to insure "the pursu_ t of happ1.n•••'', that t.~ ,. 1 i a prosperous privacy, they becoae less palpable the . .re euqoe.~tully they are at work, for, ln echolaatic terms, they are prtnclpl•• of pure potentiality.- the possibility of goods but not theileelvea goods, and certainly not public good.as sigrilflcantly 1 Fr•nch "fraternity" has never co11pleaented 1 iberty ~nd equalcl.~y t.n A•erica. And third, · insofar as they are self-evident proposltlnna •f reason they, unlike objects of faith, · become less .and not ao~e objects of hunlan concern as they are more e!ficact.ously at work, •o that they tend to.drop simply out of sight in the dally conslderatlone of national llfe1 private business induces public apathy. · In his speeches, Lincoln wrestles with just. t:hee~ dlfflcultiea, which might be characterized with the aid of a clasalo•l ter•• by the very nature of their . pol itt.cal foundation Amed.cane tend to act not as a p9l\s, a pol t.tlcal colll1lt1nity held togethfttr by .rrt.endahlp (Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, VIII, i, 4), but •• a aoQlety, a col _ection of private persons who jostle each othetr into 11toae eC'rt l of balances his effort in his speeches is precisely to prove this tendency inessential, to persuade the nation that it la held toge~her by •bends of affectlan" (p. SRR) • . To Lincoln, then, the problem of filling the agitated natto~l · void with sober sentiment •hewn fro11 the solid quarry of sober reaaon" represented by the . founding principle8 is ~ probl•• of the natleth Once the spentlanef)us conimit11ent of the Revolution l11 gontt, he aaya ln his speech· on "The Perpetuation of Our Politi.cal Tnstlt ... tiona"• a n.ev situation arises a · Passi.on has helped uss but . can do so no more. It wtlt 1.n the future be our ~nemy. Reason, cold, calculatt.ni, . unt.11pa1u1toned reason. rwust furnish all the materials fer our future support and defense ... Let those materials be 11oulder1 lnto 11ner1} . intelligence, souQd morality, and, in particular, ! [IY!Itnct for the constitution All2. l.!l!l•••<PP• A4-85). Lincoln's solutien of the "historical• problent, thft recedtng t'lf the moment of greatness for ·succeeding generations., h1 bald 1 he .,fffl!rs a new, sober passion, a passion of reason - reverence, a lawyer-llke love. for the tnstrumentwhlch has accomplished the 11lracle of a stable democracy - his rhetoric incorporates, and so ftllclta tt. �At the same tlmeJtrue to the openness demanded by the principles he usually abstains Crom the rhetorical compulsion of specific plea.st these sentences of his last public address, dealing with the burning problem of the mo11ent, are typical• In the Annual Message of Dec. 1863 and acco111panylng Proclamation, pre8ent~d A plan of re-construction (as the phra•- goes) which, I promiaed, if adopted by any State, should be acceptable to, and sustained by, the Executive government of the nation. I distinctly stated . that this was not the only plan which might possibly be 11cceptabhtr ... (p. 797). · I Instead of attempting to compel the people to a course deduced dogt1ultically, in the manner of an ideologist,· he presented i.n the words of the London Spectator, A political transparency, in which the nation could see an individual character of great power working out phe problems set before them alt ••• He manages to make these problems supre11ely. absorbing, and he does it by maki.ng al11ost every speech an interpretation of the founding docu11ents, in which he reveals at once their in~xhaustlble radlcali.ty and their enduring applicability - by giving A11eri.cans a secular complement to the Scriptures (p• 84). With respect t<> the pro11iatmry character of democrat le principles, Lincoln underscores lt by projecti.ng the growth of the past into the future1 There are already among us those, who, lf the Union be preserved ¥. will llve to see lt contain two hundred and fifty mllliona. The struggle 2! today-, is not altogether for today - it is for a vast future also (p. 635, cf. PP• 681, 756). ' · The present .is thus understood as being the sponsor of the ,future1 yet the future la, · 1n turn, nothing but the maanlfi.cation of the past (cf. P• 656) • . But politically the American past ls of . a peculiar sorts it ls not an extensive, unbrokentraditlon but the me11ory of a single, intense event - just as· a,fabrtc of reason begins with a principle from which it ls .derived, so the history of del'locracy begins with the Revolution. Lincoln intends to assure that that beginning is present to the future, that that event remalns the tradition wtiich governa the future. .For the principles of. the fathers are, by their very nature, the root of the future insofar as lt is good. And finally, with respect to the passive and incurious mode in which the democratic principles of equality and liberty tend to be accepted, lt ls significant that. Lincoln himself never attempts to rai.se the question of their tcuth, nor even to supply a definition ~ except in extremely simple, and negative terruJ. So he says, �-34- The world hae never had a good definitlon of the word l lberty, and t .h e .A11ertcan people, just now, are 11Uch ln want of one. And he provides lt ln the simple tertae of the possibll ity for eelf-real.lzatien - liberty means for each •an ta do as · he pleases wlth himself, and the product · of hl1 labor ••• ( P• 748) ·1 wht.le he expreasea .hie "idea ef del'locracy" in the for11 of the fa11illar rellsloua precept "Do not do unto others as you would not have them do unto you"• As I would not be a §lt'llh so I would not . be a maoier. Thia expresses 11y idea of de110cracy. Whatever d lffera ~ro11 . thts, to the extent of the difference, it not ~eraocracy (p. 427) I Thus he treata the principles af A•eriean politics as s1.11ple precepts for the . happineaa of hu•anity, which are at the aa11e time standards of llOral perfeotlon, and about whleh he offers no theoretical re f'l ftCt ton• I The Saviour, I eupp«t••• did not expect that· any h1,111an creature could be perfect ae the Fat.her tn Heaven1 but He 1ald1 11 Ae yeur Father in Heaven le perfect, be ye also per!ect."·~·so I say in relation to the principle that all men are created equal, let it be•• nearly reached as we can (p. 403). Indeed, such public inquiries would not be to the point of ht• rhetoric. Fer the strictly rational basis of democracy ls to be found in the theery of wnatural rights" aet out by Hobbes . and Locke, a theory which regards precisely what ls "natural", that ~~. conrmon, in Mn: and not what ie high, so that it is scarcely conducive to a public feellng of plety. What Lincoln does lnstead .ls, by speaking ln dellberate analogy to Christ (p. 403), to ralee these princlple111 fro11 1elf-evld1tnt propoaltlone to arttclea Q{ faith, thu• returning, as de Tocqueville ahow~d (QR• .cit.•• I, ~). to a . foundation · 1n fact deeper than t.hti! rational begrrlnlngs provided by the found lng fathers. _ . . .· · , . · To explain why "the oolr\t g.i rells1on and the ru"?lrtt !lf l tbert\( are anclently lncorporated wlth each other ln A11ert.ca, de Tocquevil l ~: had appealed to the classical tradltlon concerning the nef'td for public pl8ty to support the body politlc1 · Llberty regatcts religion as its companl.on in all lts battles and ite trlul'llphll, a& the cradle of t.t8 infancp and the divine source of tts . clal•s (21?, • .£!..t•• I, 11). · And he had found this theory corrobor~t.ed in A111erlca1 �-35Religion in Arnerica takes no direct part ln the government of society, but it must be regarded as the first of their political lnstltutt.ons (SlQ• ill•, I, xvii). The older Lincoln came to a view which is. the insenuous converse of this posl.tion of expediency1 not religion serves polities, but the reverse - republican government is itself a great religious lnstitution1 in his own words "the only greater institution• ta the church (p. AS). The rock of reason of Washington's foundation has the sa11e basis as Peter'e church. That reverence for the laws which Lincoln calls "the political religion" of the nation (p. 81) derives froN a trans-political faith. It Nuet be urged that this is not an opinion l .. lncoln holds routinely or perfunctorily .. for .hi.a, the Republic, which puts the sood of the whole finally into the hands of a numerical majority (p. 785), ls plausible to the ••ul only as a community of the faithful, protect~d by a kindly provision that few shall be totally without gracP., that of all those who conte into the world, only a email percentage are natural tyrants (p. 301). Were . it otherwise, democracy would be a continual garAble wtth the body politic at stake. Accordlngly the Gettysburg Addrfi2SR begins and ends not:. only wt.th phrases hftrrowed fro11 American oratory but with the diction of the Bible. To Lincoln.the people of the Revolution ls also the second people of the Boo¥;, the "al11ost chosen people" (p. -575) • All 1\mericans, he said in his Second Inaugural, read the same Bible and pray to the same God ••• (p. 793). Lincoln himself was not only, as 110st backwoodsmen, hr. ught up on o the Bible, but he wrote to hls friend Speed in the year .before his deatha I am profitably engaged t.n reading the J:S1Dle, and in the same year he said to a committee which .had presented a Bible 1 It is the best gift God has given to men. All the good Savior gave to the world was communicated through this book. But for it we could not know right from Wrong. All things aost desirable for 11.an•s welfare, here and hereafter, are to be found portrayed in it (September 9, 1864). Lincoln's commitment to tihe Bible ls not .that of an orthodox Chrietian, for, as he sald, I have neverunited myself to any church, . because I have found difficulty tn.glvlng my assent, without mental reservation~ �-36- to the long• complicated statement 11 of Christ tan doctrine whlch characterize their Articles of Belle! and Confessions of Faith (Remark to H. c. Demig, c. 1R62, cf. P• 186). For h111 the Bible is rather a palit ~cal ••vr•• book, and that in two contrasting respect•• On the one hand it lends hi• a lan~uage at once high and popular, beyond both the de11agogue and the intellectual, a language of salvation with which to ••gnify the A11eri.can enterprise 1 wlth i.ta dlcti.on he speaks as ••Father Abraham"• As the first patriarch of a new generation of founding fathers. And on the other, it supports him in a view of the n•ture of things which, when publicly acknewledged,da11pa the hysterical activity filling the American void, and reduces it to ~hat 11elaneholle deliberateness on which the public buain••• thrivea. F•r Linceln had been fro11 h.18 youth a believer in an inner counterpoise tt> political liberty, which he understood to be called the "Doctrt.ne of Necessity", that is, that the hu•an mind ls impelled to action, or held ln rest by some power, over whtch the raind itself has noi: control ••• (p. 187-188J. . · · . That power ls God who, though •not a person••, can yet directly exercise his will in human affairs• By his mere great power on the 111nds of the now contestants, he could have either eav•d' ( or destroyed the Union without a human contest (Hedltat1.ou 2Ji the . Divine~. 1862, P• 655). This ~od, in who11 Lincoln, by the peculiar power of hla falth, recognizes ·at once •Nature's God" and the God of the Bible, le Lincoln's and the people's political 11B.ster1 he constitute• a direct limitation on the power of hu11an contrivance. 1he humanity . which ls the consequence of Lincoln's view ls embOdled ln Lincoln's last speech to the natlon before his assassination, the Second Inaugural Address, which is evidently the clae~ical American poem drawing particularly on de Tocqueville's third source of democratic poetry, God. · t::.::.;.::.;:;:=.~::;...-..:-:.·- -,........~ .:~::=-~,.::a:=a=::E. '.Z.;l1 The sarne speaker who is so eminently democratic ln theme is, however, the very reverse 1n form. Again de Tocqueville provldes the criteria in h!s chapter on •Ltterary Characteristics of Democratic Times" 1 · . . · Taken as a. whole, literature in democratic ages can never present, as lt does in periods of arlsto~racy, an aspect of order, regularity, science and art1 its form, on the contrary, will ordinarily be slighted, sometimet11 despl8ed. Style will frequently be fantastic, incorrect, overburdened, and lotn!le, almo8t alwa.ys vehement and bold. · Au~hors will aim at rapidity of execution more than at perfection of detail. Small productions wlll be more common than bulky books ••• (Democracy!!! America, II, i, 11). �Now, thl:s oth;:~rwise sn accurat~e .1k~scrtpUon ti:; ci>rH~picnmrnly ~ nc.tppl tcablG to Linc..~oln° s; h'rit i:ngi The ~;~!·.ttY§..hU£t~ t\d~!tS:!il! is small, to he sure., hut: lt W35 not r·aptrny exf ~cuted - Lincoln had brought a worl\~d .. over tlraft from ~va:~hingtonr he rf~-w1n ·k,z·:rd this in Getty sbtff('.; on t::h1:i ~V(~ of dt:~l t Vt?r~·, and h(~ {!mended e<~ch n f · thf;• thr-e .-~ kn.own co'pi1~s he m~de ovn-r the nf:'xt three m{H1l:bs.. A 1 thoor;hf as he sa ld, not: a master: of langt..H:tge nnr tn po:s1H,:ost.o n n f ;1 flne e<lucat ion ( fh 39:3), be !!~~ careful 1 · · Gentlem(mt' Jud iv:~~ noue;Ias informed you tha.t th t. s Spt~f!'Ch () r In tH <'~ was p1:-ohahly ca1:--efully pre{A11.rede T •:hirnit. i.t wan (p .. 392). By thio ca1:·e he SlK'C<-:eded tn glving hi<> thuu-r~hts their almost unalt.Grahle f,n·nh For..· thts purpose he had 1• ~ft·er t:he agB of twenty~ t:hreef Bet lli.mself t i } study~ E.ngltsh 8~:'.f;\lliffi.:U~~ "lmpl"!-:rff!Ctly~ uf COUt:'Ge~ but so as to speak and l~'i'C:t~ as wGll a~~ he does nuw" (l8hll, p~ 5.'.}9). enabli.ng him to write to a man whn had submit.tH1! t:o h1m an ecHt(~ii ve~·&ion of one of hi.n. speedv:.•81 So f;:ff as ·1.t la tnt:ended me.r~.:, Jy to i mprov'1:" 1n gicarn.rnar, .aml elegancE:-~ .zy.f comp•oslt. l&n,. I. am qul t .e agceed 6 hut I do not. w tf~h the st•nsc~ change.•d, or rii.odifi.ed,. to· a hatr~s .breac\t:h. i\nd you, not havtng ntudi.t.~d parttcular points <:>r~ cl:o1.rnly as 1 haV<:"i·· ,can not be qutte sure that you do not at\8.n!';H the , sens~ whl'.:ln :yo_l clo L ,..lif t:''t: ~ . not. ~t.nten'J ~t ( p., .J4J; ct., p .. c:3 8,) ·• . :> :. .· . . Hts style.I> . ton-t ts the very oppu.sltu of that of t: ~1~ typical cternocrat i c wrltert descrthe-d by dt~ Iucqmwi.lle in hiv chaprer on "How AmerlcHn nemoct.~acy ha6 Morn.n .P.·d the gnslioh :Langua.ge" (J.h.!:S:1~1' IIP L; 16) Wh<~t out of lack of . egre ~ lmH~ of chang~ und <lesire fo:r blgn~ss, us~G old words in indeterminate seasen~ i.ntxodue~s vast rn.m1bf~t-s of rn"w wonlslt usually borrowed · fl.'£.'\'.tn technical vt-.cabul.artes, and 1o<ids hl'8 speech wtth abstract ar.ttt gew:,r.a1. expreastor'\s. ne TocqttevU lo had called lawveis t.he ar:tstocr~'its (}f Am~d. ca (i.bld ... J xvi}" and ln part Li.ncoinf s caN'fu1ness tn that: of a lawyei.=-·1nrt~.r:pr~~i-. ln.~ law. But t .he lapidar·y precisi.tH'l of form which earrh;;s the p:n.:ri.a.rcb3l gran~eur of Ltn.coln~ ~ rhe-toric . ... h. e W<'HJ. Lm~1h~e m•rrniy to 1 P.C1:_ur13 . (p .. 54t) - !.~ sometctnng 1~:H"fd~~ it. is a Blf>;n ot a HO\H~l ki..nd of aristocracy ~ republi.ca.n arlstocracy. L\.nenln had t ..~cttly r<~jected Everett• s cold L~lasslc1..sm a.s inapproi:,wiat:e t.n a, democ.r-r.tt'ic speaker, \.-Knse object must not be to dt:aJ17onstrate or 8xert h r.s (lWn. superior ity. Hts amblth1Tt '\>;t,'lSv r«~ttu~r.·, as he told hlo f1-ien1I H'~ tndont "to bi;~ d}. stinct:1y under.·stood by th~! '('ornmon pt:>op1H'' (p~ ti5)~ dnd to U:'>i".: blfl power as had hts mo~fol, Clay, in t:he tHffvtce of d~mot:rat t c d~c; a r'\ll hiE< i:J;ffortn were mad~ for practtcal effect~ Ho new~r spoke merely to l>e l1eard •. H.e never 't~el i v<~red a .Y11iurth or J111\r cn:ation" o.r an eulogy on an occaGlon 1 Lke tbta U'\!19.Bl'. ~,~.Q lfC'nrv f,lay, July 6, 1'852f cf. P• 269} ~ -- Yet hts rhetori.c Hhow~ pn~ctse1y th~ fundamental chH:CiH:'!terist' i.cs of ancient artstocratic wrltt~rs. of whi.ch de Tncquev) l le, i.n thi~ ch;;ptf"'r �') •· ••ll • ,, 1- "Th~ 'Stucty o:r Greek and Lat t n L i.te. .r.atur c ts Peculiarly Useful in Of:mocrat:ic (}o'Tlmuniti.es" wrtt:ese. · ent ltlect Nothing tn thE::ir wol."ks seems done haoti.ly or .at :candomw · eve:r::y 1 inH is writt:e1'1 ft"H: · the eye of the conno lsseur and i.s shapod after .some \.~cmcept ton of lt'.iea1 . b~m1ty • No l it:e.r ature places tht.rne flne . qu~•t itles ln . \4hteh the wr: i.terc, uf democr:-ach~s . <:i:r.e naturally dHf'].cl.ent in bolch~r relief than trH~-=.l. \'.,f 'i:he .anct.ent:t:11' no l iteraturet thm 'efort• ~ ou:.~ht to be rno.r.e -stud s_,.:>d h1 democrat 1.c t: tmt~s 11, t, 15). <w..si . , Llncoln h\rna.elf ls~ 1: h<.:Hl 10 in de Tncqw?.>vtlle' s s.•~m'!'e an aristoeratic writer\\ cwen tu t:he point ·of flndlng hit~ sourceo tn tru:- par.t. The msn who had had f·r·om y'1'uth the .. pecul lil:r amblti(mn · of betng truly esteemed of my fellow men, by rern.1erl.ng myself . worthy o.f the!.r esteem (p~ 57 v ef ~ Jh 48)), and who Ga id he tnped h1~ UW:it?rStO~tri "th~{.t Which CQlll3t itub.HJ the tns ide c•f a gentleman'' (p .. 414-).c · eould have no quC!rn· .'l wtth thp- essence of , " m-i.stQcracy. In faet11 in the weak~1 ju5t before the d•:>ltvery of the · .Qc-tt~yfil.>~ [likh:e~ he had .had vlsi.tot~s whn urged him a.t ~he (rn,r;-1 t~nt occ~tii.on t<:.i prest:mt the Uni.on. to the 'public ~·a_s . ftght'htf.~ the batt1 e of democracy for .all the wor.tdn and th<... war Hs being one ~~ of 't:JH5 people s.ta tnst the arlstocratsv; l .he had accepted the former ~'lnd rejected the l.att:er st.1.gge~th.;1h F'or hl~ w~H hbnself s eorroboration of Jef.fer~on w o contentton, set out tn hlH .cor.re.operndence with Adams (Octob!!.•r. .2H t 1 Al :J) ~ that md.stocracy an6 dsrnocn~cyi' the t~ule (!~ f the best etnd the rule . of the ,peopl~'" have been marle t:o111patlble in the United St~teG, t:hat the: citize'n~ tn fre~· -eleott6n can and will nln ~enaral •• choose from among · thernselvt~s the "rtatural ~ls,t.Q\ , the best by nature" The ~~q;b_ur.,g iHJQ.rgJ}£. ts thu u'Ctr..~r.ance o.f such an §.X.i§tsu~. t <) man at 'the s-ame thnH ex.celle•nt in the arit i.que sense and good in the common um1eratarLding .. 0 �1 · For a desert pt ion of tht~ events of the Gett.y s hurg ded l.cat ion and a collect ion of crnnmentari.~s on the ~meeches see :Car:l Sandburg r Abraham Ltnool.r!t JJt~ l l i ~.• New York ( l 939), Vol. !I~ PP• ~452-4~ 2 For an annotated col lectlon of the vartous versions seL~ Ihe Colle~t;!Zd ~ ~J.~~~l!l Linc9...ln~ ed. Roy · p, Ih"lsl-01-·" Ne;;-Drunewlck 'CT95"3), Vol VII \.l8b3·lJJb4)t ppe 17~·23 . . 3 Edward Evere,ttf ill.:..E!.'tlOfl..§. ill1f1 .S~fil'Jl.~11 liostun (1892) 11, Vol~ IV, }lp. 622~659. see Harold l:ysklnd, ~'I\ Rhet.ori.~a.l linalyE.d;s of the Geti~'sbur.g Addre·s6 1' , J.21!£.lli!l u.[ Q.ene..r~l J~Qn~ Vol~ IV (1950)., PP• 202-212. 4 5 .For an analys ls whtch .doe-s just ioe to the awesome i.mpl icat ions of the,. speech see. H~!l~Y V ~ Jaffa~ ~JJi ( 1 9 :> 9) t pp c l 8 J"' ~ 3 L ~ tl S.~ l:!Q~~ .Jl};y1d~ , , 61 ' n t h' i ng out these paragraphs J. rec~ 'i ved much . i.nk help from Geor,ge i\naat:aplo. ~§ Q.'l th.«r; f.l!:fil~ t\11\endmett..t .t.g .tl!!t. ~2!1~~1.t:ut .!Q!! J2i. the Un .. cd St;at:es· ~ Ductural. Hisser.tat ton,, Univer~i.ty of Chi~go U 64 v ~l\ppentlix I, 6, p .. 600 'ff~ 7 8 Prom a spee< ch lnd irectly repo1i:t.ed in (1890). Vol~ !I, P• lilS. S~e Carl L. Becker., P• 142 .. J!le: ~:.!]litfu.1~§. !JJ.l~Ql nf Chicago ~la!£!~tiqn ~2( !D&~.Q.fill.£!£11 E~t New "York (1958), ... � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Description An account of the resource Items in this collection are part of a series of lectures given every year at St. John's College. During the Fall and Spring semesters, lectures are given on Friday nights. Items include audio and video recordings and typescripts. For more information, and a schedule of upcoming lectures, please visit the <a href="http://www.sjc.edu/programs-and-events/annapolis/formal-lecture-series/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">St. John's College website</a>. Click on <a title="Formal Lecture Series" href="https://digitalarchives.sjc.edu/items/browse?collection=5&sort_field=Dublin+Core%2CDate&sort_dir=d">Items in the St. John's College Formal Lecture Series—Annapolis Collection</a> to view and sort all items in the collection. A growing number of lecture recordings are also available on the St. John's College (Annapolis) Lectures podcast. Visit <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/st-johns-college-annapolis-lectures/id1695157772">Apple Podcasts</a> or <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/6GDsIRqC8SWZ28AY72BsYM?si=f2ecfa9e247a456f" title="Spotify">Spotify</a> to listen and subscribe. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource St. John's College Greenfield Library Title A name given to the resource St. John's College Formal Lecture Series—Annapolis Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context formallectureseriesannapolis Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Page numeration Number of pages in the original item. 40 pages Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data paper Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource A reading of the Gettysburg Address (expanded version) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1968 Description An account of the resource Typescript of a lecture delivered in 1968 by Eva Brann as part of the Formal Lecture Series. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context lec Brann 1968 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Annapolis, MD Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available St. John's College Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource text Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource St. John's College has been given permission to make this item available online. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource pdf Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Brann, Eva T. H. Deans Friday night lecture Tutors https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/sjcdigitalarchives/original/6238210cf32cde7989b9e5688670f42e.mp3 556795032142193da83784a30ef80b55 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Description An account of the resource Items in this collection are part of a series of lectures given every year at St. John's College. During the Fall and Spring semesters, lectures are given on Friday nights. Items include audio and video recordings and typescripts. For more information, and a schedule of upcoming lectures, please visit the <a href="http://www.sjc.edu/programs-and-events/annapolis/formal-lecture-series/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">St. John's College website</a>. Click on <a title="Formal Lecture Series" href="https://digitalarchives.sjc.edu/items/browse?collection=5&sort_field=Dublin+Core%2CDate&sort_dir=d">Items in the St. John's College Formal Lecture Series—Annapolis Collection</a> to view and sort all items in the collection. A growing number of lecture recordings are also available on the St. John's College (Annapolis) Lectures podcast. Visit <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/st-johns-college-annapolis-lectures/id1695157772">Apple Podcasts</a> or <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/6GDsIRqC8SWZ28AY72BsYM?si=f2ecfa9e247a456f" title="Spotify">Spotify</a> to listen and subscribe. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource St. John's College Greenfield Library Title A name given to the resource St. John's College Formal Lecture Series—Annapolis Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context formallectureseriesannapolis Sound A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data wav Duration Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.) 01:06:53 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource A Revolution in Higher Education: Tales from Unlikely Allies Description An account of the resource Audio recording of a lecture delivered on February 17, 2017, by Richard DeMillo as part of the Formal Lecture Series. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource DeMillo, Richard Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available St. John's College Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Annapolis, MD Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2017-02-17 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource A signed permission form has been received stating, "I hereby grant St. John's College permission make an audio recording of my lecture, and retain copies for circulation and archival preservation at the St. John's College Greenfield Library. Make an audio recording of my lecture available online." Type The nature or genre of the resource sound Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource mp3 Language A language of the resource English Friday night lecture https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/sjcdigitalarchives/original/c966e028cfaa7bce8b21a0b2b96535ea.jpg 5423e4005657711080bbf5b516c00b7b Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Image Collection—Annapolis Description An account of the resource The Greenfield Library Image Collection houses over 5,000 photographs, postcards, drawings, and other graphic materials. The images in the collection document the history, academic, and community life of St. John’s College. To learn more about the Greenfield Library's archives use policy or to obtain high-resolution images, please see the <a title="Image Collection Use Policy" href="http://www.sjc.edu/academic-programs/libraries/greenfield-library/policies/#photographicarchivepolicy" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Library’s Image Collection Use Policy</a>. Click on <a title="Photographic Archives" href="http://digitalarchives.sjc.edu/items/browse?collection=7">Items in the Image Collection—Annapolis Collection</a> to view and sort all items in the collection. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available St. John's College Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource St. John's College Greenfield Library Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Annapolis, MD Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context imagecollectionannapolis Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Physical Dimensions The actual physical size of the original image 9 x 12.5 cm. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Photograph Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context SJC-P-2329 Title A name given to the resource A Security Officer on the Quad, St. John's College, Annapolis, Maryland Description An account of the resource 1 photographic print : b&w Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Unknown Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Annapolis, MD Type The nature or genre of the resource Still Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource jpeg Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource St. John's College owns the rights to this photograph. https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/sjcdigitalarchives/original/6a5c4e566b9bb8b332653cfd013829f1.mp3 d56b5c07e4eee8e964d93190876814f7 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource St. John's College Lecture Recordings—Santa Fe Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource St. John's College Meem Library Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Santa Fe, NM Sound A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data wav Duration Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.) 01:11:20 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource A short talk by Judge Michael Mukasey Description An account of the resource Audio recording of a lecture given on January 27, 2017 by Michael Mukasey as part of the Dean's Lecture and Concert Series. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Mukasey, Michael B., 1941- Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available St. John's College Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Santa Fe, NM Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2017-01-27 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Meem Library has been given permission to make this item available online. Type The nature or genre of the resource sound Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource mp3 Language A language of the resource English Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 20014362 Friday night lecture https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/sjcdigitalarchives/original/348da0fc4ac53d6bd28c15dbdf97423a.jpg 8d9030820ded51e21f9b2867c5174a43 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Image Collection—Annapolis Description An account of the resource The Greenfield Library Image Collection houses over 5,000 photographs, postcards, drawings, and other graphic materials. The images in the collection document the history, academic, and community life of St. John’s College. To learn more about the Greenfield Library's archives use policy or to obtain high-resolution images, please see the <a title="Image Collection Use Policy" href="http://www.sjc.edu/academic-programs/libraries/greenfield-library/policies/#photographicarchivepolicy" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Library’s Image Collection Use Policy</a>. Click on <a title="Photographic Archives" href="http://digitalarchives.sjc.edu/items/browse?collection=7">Items in the Image Collection—Annapolis Collection</a> to view and sort all items in the collection. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available St. John's College Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource St. John's College Greenfield Library Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Annapolis, MD Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context imagecollectionannapolis Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Physical Dimensions The actual physical size of the original image 25.5 x 20.5 cm. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Photograph Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context SJC-P-0992 Title A name given to the resource A Shot Put Competition on Back Campus, Annapolis, Maryland Description An account of the resource 1 photographic print : b&w Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Unknown Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Annapolis, MD Type The nature or genre of the resource Still Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource jpeg Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource St. John's College owns the rights to this photograph. https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/sjcdigitalarchives/original/9f8a91e20f13396cb02fdbc2a17413c2.jpg 3a66ea06066077af0bf157a19232de54 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Image Collection—Annapolis Description An account of the resource The Greenfield Library Image Collection houses over 5,000 photographs, postcards, drawings, and other graphic materials. The images in the collection document the history, academic, and community life of St. John’s College. To learn more about the Greenfield Library's archives use policy or to obtain high-resolution images, please see the <a title="Image Collection Use Policy" href="http://www.sjc.edu/academic-programs/libraries/greenfield-library/policies/#photographicarchivepolicy" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Library’s Image Collection Use Policy</a>. Click on <a title="Photographic Archives" href="http://digitalarchives.sjc.edu/items/browse?collection=7">Items in the Image Collection—Annapolis Collection</a> to view and sort all items in the collection. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available St. John's College Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource St. John's College Greenfield Library Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Annapolis, MD Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context imagecollectionannapolis Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Physical Dimensions The actual physical size of the original image 25.5 x 20.5 cm. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Photograph Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context SJC-P-0994 Title A name given to the resource A Shot Put Competition on Back Campus, Annapolis, Maryland Description An account of the resource 1 photographic print : b&w Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Unknown Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Annapolis, MD Type The nature or genre of the resource Still Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource jpeg Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource St. John's College owns the rights to this photograph. https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/sjcdigitalarchives/original/5067c372b930df786656043694427eef.jpg 1e5aa806f18df640060f62fadbdb17b9 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Image Collection—Annapolis Description An account of the resource The Greenfield Library Image Collection houses over 5,000 photographs, postcards, drawings, and other graphic materials. The images in the collection document the history, academic, and community life of St. John’s College. To learn more about the Greenfield Library's archives use policy or to obtain high-resolution images, please see the <a title="Image Collection Use Policy" href="http://www.sjc.edu/academic-programs/libraries/greenfield-library/policies/#photographicarchivepolicy" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Library’s Image Collection Use Policy</a>. Click on <a title="Photographic Archives" href="http://digitalarchives.sjc.edu/items/browse?collection=7">Items in the Image Collection—Annapolis Collection</a> to view and sort all items in the collection. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available St. John's College Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource St. John's College Greenfield Library Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Annapolis, MD Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context imagecollectionannapolis Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Physical Dimensions The actual physical size of the original image 25.5 x 20.5 cm. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Photograph Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context SJC-P-0995 Title A name given to the resource A Shot Put Competition on Back Campus, Annapolis, Maryland Description An account of the resource 1 photographic print : b&w Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Unknown Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Annapolis, MD Type The nature or genre of the resource Still Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource jpeg Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource St. John's College owns the rights to this photograph.