Charleston in rhyme from another time
In addition to raising a brood of four sons, the late Alice M. Swanson was, among other things, a fine amateur poet. One of her works, a stream-of-consciousness piece titled "Portrait of Charleston," appeared in an Ashley Cooper column years ago, and I'm sure will be found as pleasing today as it was then:
Dock Street Theatre, Slave Mart,
History Trail, Goat Cart,
Pat Robinson, DuBose Heyward,
Florence Crittenden Home for the Wayward,
Both the Halseys, Middleton, Sally,
Manigault House, Stoll's Alley,
Iron Balconies, Spanish moss,
Historic Charleston, House of Ross,
Mr. Waagner's carriage ride,
White Point Gardens where Bonnet died,
Fort Sumter, South Carolina Hall,
Francis Marion, the sea wall,
Birds, environment by Sprunt and Dick,
Roper Hospital, old brick,
Gibbes Art Gallery, oleander,
City Market, cool verandah,
Cypress Gardens, Rainbow Row,
Thomas Elfe, Edgar Allen Poe,
Shrimpy raw-raw, sweet olive smells,
Flower women, St. Michael's bells.
Charleston Museum, pink perfections,
Powder Magazine, Onslow's confections,
Sam Stoney, old gates,
Spiritual Society, earthquakes,
Sewer odor, pulp mill,
Middleton Place, Indian Hill,
Castle Pinckney, magnolia leaves,
Pink House, palm trees,
Antique silver, lacy fans,
Mount Pleasant, Isle of Palms,
Hidden courtyards, roofs of tile,
Ashley Cooper, Five Mile,
Cobblestones, shrimp fleet,
Hurricanes, intense heat,
Hibernian Hall, Washington Park,
"Three o'Clock Dinner," "Master Skylark,"
Cooper River, Ashley Hall,
She-crab soup, St. Cecilia Ball,
Wade Hampton, Ashmead Place,
Citadel Square, Calhoun's face,
"Sparks From My Chimney," "Charleston Receipts,"
Wisteria, winding streets,
Verner prints, Brewton Inn,
Wild turkey, marsh hen,
Lining House, Preservation,
Catfish Row, Drayton Hall Plantation,
This from the frustrated heart of a poet,
But this is CHARLESTON, as WE know it.
Walter Duane noticed something interesting in the Jan. 26 edition of The New Yorker — an article about the Stamp Act on newspapers (and also legal documents, permits, wills, commercial contracts, etc.) before the American Revolution that almost caused Colonial newspapers to go broke. "I think people know about the tax on tea. I had heard about the tax on papers when I was in the second grade. Don't count, but that was about 80 years ago!
"I thought the Stamp Act was mainly on documents or official papers. I hadn't given much thought as to how the tax applied to newspapers or other publications could have prevented so many people in the Colonies from getting information or knowledge. Even today newspapers are vital to this country, and I am sorry to see so many curtailing their issues.
"The newspaper in the morning and two cups of coffee start my day off right."
No argument there!
Edward M. Gilbreth is a Charleston physician. Reach him at edwardgilbreth@comcast.net.
