A nice sonnet although rhyme enforced enjambment worries me sometimes but it
sounds OK read aloud, which is how poetry should be read , I suppose. The
place names mean nothing to me I am afraid. I have Googled and discovered
Longwood and Nemours but without intimate knowledge they do not mean much to
me. If this happens as it must in poems about place that are personal to the
poet or to a limited number then there has to be something else in the poem
that raises it to a universal experience. ' Binsey Poplars' for instance is
not about that place or those trees as such, they were the cause of the
poem, but the poem was about something else. So I am looking for something
else here.
The du Pont firm built on explosives I remember and the younger Pierre built
Longwood Gardens, opening them to the public. So perhaps the fountains of
Nemours and Longwood are a cleansing a form of expiation for the origins of
their wealth.  That seems fine to me but it requires knowledge on my part
and is not, at least to me , accessible in the poem itself. And I am
looking. Perhaps some clue in 'Dirt, manure are cheerful mire ' although I
did think you were seeking a rhyme for Nemour there.
There is a curious turn in the last few lines and I do wonder if you are
aware of the commercial implications of 'returns on my initial buy' which
does seriously question the expiation theme of cleansing waters and the
philanthropy of opening his gardens to the world. They seem at odds with
each other.
An interesting read, Carl , for which thanks. Arthur.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Carl Reimann" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Monday, April 21, 2003 4:00 AM
Subject: NEW: The Longwood Story


> The Longwood Story
>
> My father killed, and I his eldest son,
> a Brandywine du Pont, began to map
> my way within that name: a future won
> by work and trade. A garden sculpture tap
> released a spire of joyful plans: Nemours
> a subtle marvel to behold: the might
> of shooting, reaching water. Dirt, manure
> are cheerful mire! We'll catch electric light
> in lustrous leaping sprays and tumbling pools,
> and stroll through cacti, boxwood, hothouse ferns
> and vines in shallow blackened mirrors. Schools
> of fish and floriculture give returns
> on my initial buy of Pierce's Park,
> established now as Pennsylvania ark.
>
>
>
>
>
>
> ==================================
> Longwood: gardens in Pennsylvania, USA.
> Brandywine: in SE Pennsylvania.
> Nemours: 75 km S-SE of Paris, France.
>
>
> -Carl