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The Wilmingtonian Poetry Journal Poems Inspired by Wilmington, Delaware written by Donata Lewandowski Guerra B.A. Swarthmore College 2004-01-26 2:26 PM SONNET: PUTTING LIFE INTO A GRAVEYARD, A 1920 DELAWARE STATE MAGAZINE FE Previous Entry :: Next Entry Read/Post Comments (0) |
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Last year I stumbled across a January, 1920 article in the short-lived Delaware State Magazine about the ground under the present-day Wilmington Institute Free Library on Rodney Square. Part of the building stands over a playground that, itself, had displaced the First Presbyterian Church cemetery on Market Street. The story featured photographs of young boys playing on the old cemetery grounds. The church had already been moved to the Brandywine River bank where it stands today as the headquarters of the Colonial Dames. Eventually, this play area gave way to the library we see today. My ruminations take shape in this Petrarchan sonnet. PUTTING LIFE INTO A GRAVEYARD: DELAWARE STATE MAGAZINE FEATURE, 1920 (copyright 2004 Donata Lewandowski Guerra) Around opaque headstones and thin trees brown As dried grass trampled underfoot, they mill, "The Gang" -- baptized in print -- on Market's hill, 1920s teams, all boys, it seems. The town Sees burial ground give way (with Church set down Anew on the Brandywine's banks) but still Its emptying plots won't cede to masons' skill Until a firm of national renown Two years hence lifts pilasters to pages. "The war has changed all things." cite accolades, Coy captioning "From the Grave to the Gay". They have asked, are rot already, sages Matured in the intervening eight decades, If living souls remember tombs or play. |
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