“Trump renews wall demand” [Headline in Los Angeles Times]
When I came to the United States as an immigrant in the early fifties people were very much into education. Empowered by the G.I. Bill, veterans crowded the colleges. “English”, which included American literature, was a required subject then, and every body knew who Robert Frost was. When I first read the line “I took the road less traveled by and that has made all the difference” I thought that it was so very American, so much like “I did it my way”. When he writes “Something there is that does not like a wall”, and when Cole Porter sings “Don’t fence me in”, are these not arch-American sentiments you could not express better any other way?
But that was six decades ago. The culture has changed. Who, after all, would read poetry on their iPads, really now? Perhaps our culture does not encourage us to use the right half of our brain, where we store wisdom, as opposed to the left where we keep our facts. Or perhaps our values have changed. Maybe we do love walls, after all? It pains me, the self-appointed defender of all that was good when I was young, to now have to admit that we may have to update our very poets. But can you imagine Robert Frost admitting that “Something there is that does love a wall”? And should we really join Cole Porter and sing “Do fence me in”? And while we are at it, should we improve Ronald Reagan’s powerful speech? What if he had said “Mister Gorbachev, do keep up that wall”?
We are new to this wall business. Other nations have walls. The Chinese love their wall as a tourist attraction. Hadrian, too, was very happy with his. Kept the British out of Londinium. He thought. Oh yes, and the Roman Limes, the 500 km wall that was supposed to keep the Germans out of Frankfurt. Those, of course, were bigger projects. But watch out, World! We have not even started yet. Ours will be much bigger.
What, however, if the prophet Carl Sandburg saw something we have not seen yet? In his Chicago poem “A Fence” he writes: “As a fence it was a masterpiece… (but) passing through the bars and over the steel points will go nothing except Death and the Rain and To-morrow.”
Meanwhile, though, while we are on the subject of reviewing our poets let us also look at what Shakespeare had to say on the subject. In his Midsummer-Night’s Dream the villagers are about to perform a play. One character, Quince the carpenter, is the self-appointed director. In discussing the necessary stage props he speaks these memorable words: “Then, there is another thing: we must have a wall”. He also specifies that there has to be a cranny in that wall “for Pyramus to whisper through” (and tell the people on the other side, perhaps, that they must pay and that we hope they do?)
Funny how Shakespeare always emerges as the most current of all poets if we tweek him a little.
(c)2018 by Herbert H. Hoffman Picture credit: easyfreeclipart.com
PS: For $25 an artist, Christoph Buechel, takes visitors to see the eight border wall prototypes. “They may have significant cultural value”, he jokes. (I think)