A local radio station here owns the rights to a dramatic reading of an obscure poem called "Hail, October" by a fellow named Hal Boyle. He was a journalist, and won a Pulitzer for his reporting during WWII. The recording itself, which is read by a well-known radio announcer from the period, maybe was made in the sixties, but could be older. There are different musical instruments waxing and waning in the background, making the whole thing very compelling, and the station's regular listeners look forward to it every year. Because they only play it in October and you never know what time of day you may get to hear it, so you have to listen all day - it's a real thing, for it's fans.
Last year I tried to find the words online, anywhere, but it doesn't seem to be written up any place, although I did discover a very poor quality recording of it on youtube, with Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez as the background - very unsuitable for this piece, in my opinion. So I decided to try and transcribe it; I did manage to hear it on several occasions and I'd grab a notebook to try and write down a few lines each time. And so that's how I got it.
It's as complete as possible and I'm working on printing it here, but it's really nothing great to just read. This dramatic reading with all the music is the thing that people love to hear, and also that it was a local man reading it. So I have to figure out how to add some drama on the page, so to speak.
To be continued. Wish me luck.
Does the poem start with these lines?
ReplyDeleteHail October!
New York – If the Lord whispered in your secret heart that you
had but one month to live and let you pick that month, which
would you choose? I’d say October.
The birds love it, the beasts love it, and man himself then
stands upon the summit of the year.
October is all the other seasons wrapped into a 31 day grab
bag package, tied with a rainbow ribbon. It is the period when
Mother Nature, the great dramatist, brings her traveling road
show to a climax.
Elsa, how did you find that? Yes, that's it. I am still working on putting it in a blog post worthy of the sentiment. I feel that if I just print it, it won't have the impact, so, stay tuned. You are a better researcher than I am!
DeleteI haven't read the entire verse yet, but that line about Nature's traveling road show is intriguing.
DeleteI got lucky with the search. Pretty broad one, using just the author's name and the poem's title. Then happened to spot the Goshen Garden Club's newsletter and had a hunch that'd be a good place for a poem. Can't wait to see what you put together for us.
Tried to leave a couple of comments today, but the blog doesn't seem to be accepting. Thought to try once more, with this short one. Maybe the others are going through, but are in moderation. In any event, try this link: http://www.goshengardenclub.org/files/GGCAugSepOct_4_2_.pdf.
ReplyDeleteI don't know why you had trouble, as I just saw this. No comments appear until I approve them, but today I've been checking frequently.
DeleteYes, behavior for the first couple was a bit out of the ordinary. With them, the little message that the comment would be published soon didn't appear, but it did when I posted the one with the link. And I thought, right, that's what was missing, the acknowledgement. My reply to you above was fine too. Chalk it up to web wonkiness.
DeleteOh, brother. I hope to get it ready within the week.
DeletePlease include some more leaf pix with your presentation. The recent ones you shared were gorgeous. We don't get to see those hues in our falling leaves in northern California.
DeleteOh, I am! And thank you for the encouragement. I was just fitting some photos in the poem, here and there. :)
DeleteI'll look forward to seeing the fruits of your labor on this project!
ReplyDeleteIn regard to signing in, Google will not let me sign in on your blog, or with a URL, which is why I just comment anonymously nowadays.
Gretchen Joanna