I mentioned on Sunday that I had had a particularly good find while book shopping. First, it looked like someone had unloaded a few Ford Madox Ford books at Powell’s, which I proceeded to snap up. But the real excitement was over And the Whale Is Ours: Creative Writing of American Whalemen.
(Do I even need to explain why?)
Pamela Miller has compiled creative writing from 42 American men who worked in the whale fishery during its heyday, mostly officers or future officers.
As much as possible, the selections are drawn from original material written on board ship by whalemen who did not intend to publish immediately, if at all, rather than those who wrote highly descriptive narratives of dramatic whale chases and foreign ports for hometown newspapers. These are the obscure journal keepers who consciously attempted literary expression for their own pleasure, or that of their friends and families.
Cool enough for you? How about this, “Joseph Hersey’s illustrated poem about a fresh meal of sea-hog”:
Or perhaps your taste runs more to William H. Macy’s poem on “love founded on ten minutes acquaintance in the bush”:
Who is’t that thou seekest in yon wood so green
Where so seldom is aught but the birds to be seen
Who is’t that thou seekest in yonder deep shade
Tis my heart’s dearest treasure my fair Island maid
I’ve only dipped in and out so far but I’m finding it fascinating. I’m looking forward to really sitting down with it after I finish up with some other creative writing by an American whaleman.
This book looks like too much fun!