A dome of many-coloured glass
Please use the above link for a (free) electronic copy of this volume of poetry.
Living on the North Shore, near Rockport, between Salem and Rockport, rather, I had a copy of this book, the same first edition, I believe, when I was in High School during 1978-79. Most of my volumes of poetry were Riverside Press Editions published by Houghton Mifflin after 1885 and before 1900. But I do very fondly remember reading Amy Lowell when I was sixteen, seventeen.
Today we walked by her house. Last year Donna and I infrequently visited Mount Auburn Cemetery and included walking tours of Brattle Street. So to begin Spring we took the parallel to Brattle and found the Oliver-Gerry-Lowell House, built in 1767. Not to be coy or pretentious but I've always known it was the home of the poetess, but it is real deceiving to walk down Brattle and try to see it. This afternoon we went to the front entrance of Elmwood, but its gate was closed. We admired the house and read the plaque and agreed that it could in fact be a private residence. We wondered who would live in it and if they would have to be a famous author, Donna then offering to keep it mind that when we could later afford it that I would like it. There was a chauffeur parked outside in a minature limosene, and I politely tried to find out who lived in the house and the driver only provided the information that the Longfellow House was open to the public, and I acknowledged my knowing that and thanked him.
When I returned to our apartment I did a little looking and found out who presently does reside in the building.
Donna has a small purple violet in her purse that I picked from their outside gate (just over the lotline? I hope) that is like one of the purple violets that I had in my backyard on the North Shore. I told her that honestly, they didn't seem that hard to replace; they're pretty, but not expensive.
Scott Lord
