Rev. George S. Delano
Poetry can reveal personal histories, providing much about authors and their lives, and at times, events surrounding certain poems and recipient(s). These intriguing histories often involve searching family genealogies, tracing places of residence, dates of birth and death.
One noteworthy Maine-poet books (in my modest c [...]
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Rev. George S. Delano, Maine Poet
Rev. George S. Delano
Poetry can reveal personal histories, providing much about authors and their lives, and at times, events surrounding certain poems and recipient(s). These intriguing histories often involve searching family genealogies, tracing places of residence, dates of birth and death.
One noteworthy Maine-poet books (in my modest c [...]
Sister Muriel, Poetic Character
“The Muse,” Henry Martin, WikiArt.
Where poetic voices originate is a curious question, with potentially as many answers as poets (writers) themselves. Lest they vanish into aether, I usually do not dissect these voices. Many are transient, some enduring, reappearing as other characters, relating their life-stories along Greek mou [...]
Poetry, Year-End Review 2016
Poetry is my life, and my life is poetry…
“Summer pilgrimage to Grand Manan Island…”
To readers of my poetry, please accept grateful “Thank-You!” You have kept me going more than you know. Kind words and suggestions are always appreciated. Also, I wish to thank early morning pre-posting readers who were there for “5:00 am po [...]
Altamura – Literary Term
Altamura Krater, Walters Art Museum, Wikipedia.
Altamura – In poetry or prose, when dialogue of two characters merge as one. Typically, one is living, the other dead. Thoughts of the dead character merge with those of the living. Eventually, they separate, returning as two characters.
This term is named after Altamura, classical Greek artisan [...]
Dialogue at the Diner
Maine lobstermen having breakfast,
interaction with the waitress…
“Do you have raisin bread left?”
“We’re done with raisin bread.”
“Coffee?”
“Heard her come in last night.”
“Make-n-break, one lunger.”
“Two-mast schooner, stayed the night.”
“Came in before tide went out.”
“I hate low water, hauling gear around.”
“Even the wife hates low [...]
Poetic Characters, Enduring
Inupiat Family from Noatak, Alaska, 1929, Edward S. Curtis, Wikimedia photo.
In a recent blog, I wrote about transient poetic characters. This post pertains to enduring characters, those who continue from poem-to-poem, demonstrating personal and spiritual growth through their versed journeys and challenges.
Quiet but ever-present voice in my [...]
Poetic Characters, Transient
“Classical Beauty,” John William Godward, WikiArt photo.
Between poems, I oft consider ephemeral nature of poetic characters, who and what they are, (not necessarily where they originate), but their brief lives on printed pages. Generally, most are transient, small lights that live for fifty lines or so and then cease to exist, at [...]
Poetry, Year-End Review 2015
Poetry is my life, and my life is poetry.
“Calliope,” by Joseph Fagnani, 1869, Wikimedia photo.
Clear-voice muses were loud and true during 2015. With readers by my side, favorable winds stretched our sails, plowing waves of verse from Arctic shores to seas of ancient Greece and Latania. As of year’s end, I wrote ~200 poems, concl [...]
“The Iliad” Opening Stanz...
“The Wrath of Achilles,” Michel Drolling, 1819, Wikipedia photo.
On this winter morning when the sea is galing wild and sand is streaking on the beach, I turned to Clark’s copy of The Iliad to explore translations of masters: Wilkinson, Chapman, Pope, and Bryant. This translation comparison relied upon William C. Wilkinson’s 19th [...]
Poetry, Year-End Review 2014
“Temple of Athena Nike,” Werner Carl-Freidrich, watercolour, 1877, Wikimedia photo.
Last year was a poetry-productive year, as I wrote ~ 280 poems. This review will focus on historical poetry sub-headings: “Greek-Ægean,” “Viking-Norse,” and “Arctic-Nunavut.”
Since May of this year, I have written 42 Greek-related poems.* During th [...]
Sosibios – Literary Term
Drawing by John Keats of the Sosibios marble vase, 1819, Wikipedia photo.
Sosibios – a literary term where two or more historical figures of differing time periods converse in prose or poetry. This term is named after Sosibios, the neo-Attic Athenian sculptor who crafted the Pentelic marble vase in Keats’ poem “Ode on the Grecian Urn,” where [...]
Hayes Association Signatures
Examination of first edition “The Open Polar Sea,” 1867:
This is an update on four “Hayes” signatures found in this copy of OPS. After conducting Internet searches, these signatures may be those family members related to George McGill Hayes, who was the two-term mayor of Canandaigua, Ontario County, New York (1938-44, 1948-49), a [...]
Rare Maine Discoveries
A trip to Maine would not be totally successful without discovering a rare book of poetry signed by the author and an antique muse cameo necklace/pin. The 100 year-old poetry book is entitled “The Spirit’s Work” by Job H. Montgomery, Brookline, Boston, The Riverdale Press, Publishers, 1914.
An inscription on the inside cover [...]
Dr. Isaac Israel Hayes: Logistical Pl...
Chart in “Arctic Boat Journey” with page 58 shows reference to “Cape Union” and “Open Polar Sea.”
Dr. Hayes in his first book, An Arctic Boat Journey, demonstrated his abilities at gaining both scientific and financial support for his second Arctic expedition, search for the legendary Open Polar Sea. Of no [...]
Arctic Ice Navigation: Kane’s Winter ...
“Life in the Brig: Second Winter.” See photo credit below.
Dr. Elisha Kent Kane led the Second Grinnell Expedition in an effort to locate or rescue the lost Franklin Expedition. However, Kane’s expedition is best known for its own heroic survival and eventual eighty-three day march from Rensselar Bay to Upernavik, Greenland.
Confr [...]
Arctic Ice Navigation: Ice Types and ...
Photos from “Illustrated Glossary of Snow and Ice.”
For 19th century Arctic explorers, ice in various forms was a potential hazard to navigation and to life. For this reason, identification, interpretation, and avoidance of ship-damaging ice were important skills. Because of his firsthand encounters with threatening ice, Isaac Isr [...]
Arctic Ice Navigation: Ship Refitting...
Relics of the Franklin Expedition from “Illustrated London News,” October, 1854, Wikimedia photo.
Rigors of ice navigation challenged 19th century English and American explorers who ventured into the High Arctic. With no purpose-built ships designed and constructed for ice prosecution, shipyards retrofitted wood-hull sailing vesse [...]
Kane’s Mysterious Waters: Transient P...
Elisha Kent Kane, M.D.
Led by Elisha Kent Kane, M.D., the Second Grinnell Expedition (1853-1855) continued on-going searches for the missing Franklin Expedition. According to Kane’s writings in Arctic Explorations, his approach was to take a course that should “lead most directly to the open sea of which he had inferred the existence” and to [...]
Understanding by Degrees: The Open Po...
“Chart of Smith Sound Showing Dr. Hayes Track,” from “The Open Polar Sea,” 1867 1st edition.
During the 19th century, some scientists and explorers believed (or wanted to confirm) that an Open Polar Sea existed north of Ellesmere Island and Greenland, presumably as an ice-free area of navigable water in the region of t [...]
Understanding by Degrees: Determining...
In the previous post, I outlined the basic concepts for obtaining latitude by sextant sightings at local solar noon, and illustrated how masters and astronomers on 19th century Arctic-exploring ships determined their northern position whether on the open ocean or trekking across glaciers on foot or by dog sledge. When navigating the open ocea [...]
Understanding by Degrees: Determining...
Diagram of Marine Sextant courtesy of English Wikipedia.
Arctic explorers in the 19th century routinely used a sextant for celestial navigation to determine their location at sea and when trekking across glaciers and other terrain on foot or by dog sledge. This first of three posts discusses basic principles of obtaining solar-noon latitude b [...]
Surviving Hayes’ Arctic Boat Journey:...
In the brig Advance, Elisha Kent Kane, MD led the Second Grinnell Expedition to search for Sir John Franklin and his men. During August, 1854 with the ship fixed in ice, Kane sent Isaac I. Hayes, MD south from Rensselaer Harbor to reach civilization to arrange rescue.
An Angekok to his tribe, the Inuk Kalutunah was described by Dr. Hayes as “ [...]
Surviving Hayes’ Arctic Boat Journey:...
In the brig Advance, Elisha Kent Kane, MD led the Second Grinnell Expedition to search for Sir John Franklin and his men. During August, 1854 with the ship fixed in ice, Kane sent Isaac I. Hayes, MD south from Rensselaer Harbor to reach civilization to arrange rescue. Johan Carl Christian Petersen, while sick with scurvy and rheumatism, was t [...]
Pressing On or Turning Back, Second G...
Photo credit Dr. Russell Potter.
As Dr. Elisha Kent Kane led the Second Grinnell Expedition in its search for the missing Franklin crew, he demonstrated a combination of pressing on and turning back — and equally important, the adoption of some Inuit methods to survive harsh northern Greenland winters. His expedition became one of the most h [...]
Pressing On or Turning Back, The Fran...
Whether to proceed in the face of adversity has confronted explorers since antiquity and was a real concern for 19th century Arctic explorers. The inability for explorers to predict adverse weather and/or ice conditions can lead to injurious and/or fatal outcomes. By their nature, these Arctic explorers pressed on where others would have neve [...]
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