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(Mark's Bay, Lake Champlain- Painting by Kevin Macneil Brown, acrylic on canvas, 2008)
Samuel De Champlain
Samuel De Champlain
Astrolabe, lead line
lineaments of ungratified...
desire: 29 voyages 1599 to 1633
Master mariner, marriage
perhaps unconsummated ?;
childless but for
three adopted Indian daughters,
Faith, Hope, Charity,
later lost to politics.
But found so much land and
water between fog and clear sailing!
Observation, involvement,
engagement- chose sides in battle.
(but, in all fairness, a man of
lineaments of ungratified...
desire: 29 voyages 1599 to 1633
Master mariner, marriage
perhaps unconsummated ?;
childless but for
three adopted Indian daughters,
Faith, Hope, Charity,
later lost to politics.
But found so much land and
water between fog and clear sailing!
Observation, involvement,
engagement- chose sides in battle.
(but, in all fairness, a man of
moderation, the
middle path: witness his
distaste for torture, his
essential human kindness).
The Good Catholic,
tolerant of others, Protestants and
Indian souls to be saved
(this succeeded only with sick native
children
baptized at death’s door)
Did he take offense
at metrical Psalms sung
loudly from Protestant, Huguenot
middle path: witness his
distaste for torture, his
essential human kindness).
The Good Catholic,
tolerant of others, Protestants and
Indian souls to be saved
(this succeeded only with sick native
children
baptized at death’s door)
Did he take offense
at metrical Psalms sung
loudly from Protestant, Huguenot
ships- a quarantined “church” in the harbor?
Years later, Helene, his wife,
takes orders in an Ursuline convent.
His grave unknown,
an astrolabe his only
surviving object,
Place names and a
rich topography,
Rivers and bays,
a monumental silence.
Years later, Helene, his wife,
takes orders in an Ursuline convent.
His grave unknown,
an astrolabe his only
surviving object,
Place names and a
rich topography,
Rivers and bays,
a monumental silence.
-----------------------------------------------
Rich and fecund river mouth
islands of nine or seven summits,
spruce and birch, white pine, beech
Champlain saw:
"ospreys, heron, curlews
thrushes...
others in infinite numbers
that come in their seasons..."
Lists among the
hawks and falcons:
thrushes...
others in infinite numbers
that come in their seasons..."
Lists among the
hawks and falcons:
"Less common than those named, one
with gray plumage on back
and white on the belly, as
large and fat as a hen,
with one foot like the talon
of a bird of prey, with which
it catches fish; the other
like that of a duck.
The latter serves
for swimming in the water when he dives for fish.
This bird is not
supposed to be found, except in
New France. "
with gray plumage on back
and white on the belly, as
large and fat as a hen,
with one foot like the talon
of a bird of prey, with which
it catches fish; the other
like that of a duck.
The latter serves
for swimming in the water when he dives for fish.
This bird is not
supposed to be found, except in
New France. "
Is there a continuous line
from Norumbega to here and now?
Does
migration assume another
dimension across
boundaries that don’t exist?
from Norumbega to here and now?
Does
migration assume another
dimension across
boundaries that don’t exist?
-Kevin Macneil Brown
from NORTH COAST DREAMING/LUMINIST DIARY (Liminal Editions, 2008)
Available at Bear Pond Books, Monpelier, Vermont
or here:
