Date: 12-17-00
PEOPLE IN AMERICA #1802 - STEPHEN VINCENT BENET, PT. 2
By BARBARA DASHANNCR:
PEOPLE IN AMERICA -- A PROGRAM IN SPECIAL ENGLISH BY THE VOICE OF
AMERICA. EACH WEEK AT THIS TIME, WE BRING YOU A STORY ABOUT PEOPLE WHO WERE IMPORTANT IN THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. TODAY LARRY WEST AND DOUG JOHNSON COMPLETE THE STORY OF WRITER STEPHEN
VINCENT BENET.
(THEME)
VOICE ONE:
BENET WAS ONE OF THE MOST POPULAR WRITERS IN THE UNITED STATES
DURING THE FIRST HALF OF THE NINETEEN-HUNDREDS. BY THE MIDDLE
NINETEEN-TWENTIES, BENET HAD PUBLISHED FIVE BOOKS OF HIS OWN. HE
HAD WON NATIONAL PRIZES FOR HIS WRITING. SOME OF HIS POEMS WERE
CONSIDERED PART OF THE AMERICAN LITERARY TRADITION.
VOICE TWO:
ALTHOUGH BENET WAS FAMOUS, MOST OF THE MONEY HE EARNED CAME FROM THE STORIES HE WROTE FOR POPULAR MAGAZINES. THE STORIES WERE NOT ABOUT SERIOUS PEOPLE OR IDEAS. THEY WERE LIGHT THINGS. . . MEANT TO
BE READ QUICKLY AND FORGOTTEN. SOMETIMES, BENET WAS NOT HAPPY
WITH THE STORIES. BUT HE DID NOT HAVE TIME TO MAKE THEM BETTER.
HE FELT HE HAD NO CHOICE BUT TO WORK IN THIS WAY. HE HAD A WIFE
AND A CHILD TO SUPPORT.
ALL THE WHILE BENET WAS TRYING TO PLEASE THE MAGAZINE EDITORS, HE
WAS THINKING ABOUT A NEW DIRECTION AND A GREATER PURPOSE FOR HIS
WRITING. HE WANTED TO BRING TO LIFE AMERICA'S HISTORY AND
HEROES. HE WANTED TO SHOW WHY THESE THINGS WERE IMPORTANT AND
VALUABLE. MOST OF ALL, HE WANTED PEOPLE TO REMEMBER THE BEAUTY
AND GOODNESS OF THE AMERICA HE HAD SEEN AS A BOY. HE BEGAN TO
EXPERIMENT.
VOICE ONE:
BENET'S NEW STORIES WERE ABOUT LIFE IN SMALL TOWNS. ALL KINDS OF
PEOPLE WERE IN THE STORIES. ALL OF THEM HAD HELPED -- IN SOME
WAY -- TO BUILD AMERICA.
THE VOICE TELLING THE STORY WAS NOT A MODERN VOICE. IT DID NOT
SOUND TIRED OF THE WORLD . . . AS DID THE VOICES IN MOST STORIES OF
THAT TIME. INSTEAD, IT WAS THE VOICE OF SOMEONE WHO HAD LIVED A
LONG TIME IN THE SMALL TOWN. THE VOICE SOUNDED WISE. AND THE
LANGUAGE WAS A LITTLE LIKE POETRY.
IN NINETEEN-TWENTY-SIX BENET WON AN AWARD OF TWO-THOUSAND
FIVE-HUNDRED DOLLARS. HE WOULD USE THE MONEY TO CONTINUE HIS
WRITING. FIVE YEARS EARLIER, HE HAD SPENT SOME TIME IN PARIS AS
A WRITER. HE LOVED THE CITY, AND HAD MET HIS WIFE THERE. SO HE
DECIDED TO RETURN TO FRANCE. SOON AFTER HE AND HIS WIFE ARRIVED,
THEIR SECOND CHILD WAS BORN.
VOICE TWO:
BENET WAS LIVING FAR FROM AMERICA. BUT AMERICA REMAINED CENTRAL
TO HIS WORK. HE BEGAN TO WRITE A POEM ABOUT AMERICA'S CIVIL WAR.
THE WAR HAD BEEN FOUGHT BETWEEN NORTHERN STATES AND SOUTHERN
STATES FROM EIGHTEEN SIXTY-ONE TO EIGHTEEN-SIXTY-FIVE. BENET'S
POEM DESCRIBED COMMON SOLDIERS, BATTLES AND THE MILITARY AND
POLITICAL LEADERS OF BOTH SIDES. IT DESCRIBED THE TWO MAJOR
REASONS FOR THE WAR: SAVING THE UNION OF STATES, AND FREEING THE
BLACK SLAVES. THE POEM WAS PUBLISHED IN NINETEEN-TWENTY-EIGHT.
IT WAS AS LONG AS A BOOK. IT WAS CALLED JOHN BROWN'S BODY. HERE
IS PART OF THE POEM.
VOICE THREE:
'HE MUST HAVE BEEN A PEACEABLE MAN, THAT FARMER.
IT IS SAID THAT HE DIED OF WHAT HE HAD HEARD AND SEEN
IN THAT ONE BRIEF MOMENT, ALTHOUGH NO BULLET CAME NEAR HIM
HE SHOULD HAVE KNOWN
THAT EVEN MINOR BATTLES ARE NOT THE PLACE
FOR PEACEABLE MEN -- BUT HE DIED, INSTEAD, IT IS SAID
THE GENERAL CAME
AND THE SOUTH CAME
AND THE END CAME
AND THE GRASS COMES
AND THE WIND BLOWS. . .
ON THE GROWN GRASS
AND THE WIND SAYS
LONG AGO
LONG
AGO.
VOICE ONE:
JOHN BROWN'S BODY' WAS PRAISED FOR ITS POWER AND TRUTH. IT WAS
SO FILLED WITH COLOR AND DETAILS THAT PROFESSORS OF HISTORY USED
IT TO TEACH THEIR STUDENTS ABOUT THE CIVIL WAR. IT WAS READ ON
AMERICAN AND BRITISH RADIO. THE YEAR AFTER IT WAS PUBLISHED,
STEPHEN VINCENT BENET RECEIVED AMERICA'S PULITZER PRIZE FOR
POETRY.
VOICE TWO:
BENET RETURNED TO NEW YORK FROM FRANCE. HE TOOK THE MONEY HE
EARNED FROM THE SALES OF JOHN BROWN'S BODY AND INVESTED IT IN THE
STOCK MARKET ON WALL STREET. BUT THAT YEAR -- NINETEEN
TWENTY-NINE -- WAS THE YEAR THE STOCK MARKET CRASHED.
INVESTMENTS WERE WORTH NOTHING. ALL OF BENET'S MONEY WAS LOST.
THE NEXT FEW YEARS WERE VERY DIFFICULT. BENET'S FATHER DIED, AND
HE HAD TO HELP SUPPORT HIS MOTHER AND SISTER. ANOTHER CHILD
CAME. AND BENET BEGAN TO SUFFER MORE FROM THE EFFECTS OF
ARTHRITIS.
THE PAIN IN HIS JOINTS MADE IT HARD FOR HIM TO WORK. AND A WEAK
HEART GAVE HIM LITTLE ENERGY. YET HE HAD LITTLE CHOICE. HE HAD
TO EARN MONEY THE ONLY WAY HE KNEW HOW: BY WRITING.
SO BENET BEGAN WRITING MAGAZINE STORIES AGAIN. HE ALSO WENT TO
HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA TO WRITE A MOTION PICTURE STORY ABOUT ABRAHAM LINCOLN -- AMERICA'S PRESIDENT DURING THE CIVIL WAR. AND HE
TRAVELED AROUND THE COUNTRY GIVING TALKS ON POETRY AND WRITING.
VOICE ONE:
TIMES WERE HARD IN AMERICA IN THE NINETEEN-THIRTIES. BUT AS
PRESIDENT FRANKLIN ROOSEVELT BEGAN HIS ECONOMIC REFORMS, BENET
BEGAN TO LOOK FORWARD TO A BRIGHTER FUTURE FOR THE COUNTRY. HE
AND HIS WIFE, ROSEMARY, WROTE A BOOK OF POEMS FOR CHILDREN. IT
WAS CALLED A BOOK OF AMERICANS. MANY OF THE POEMS WERE HUMOROUS.
MANY WERE FULL OF HOPE.
IN NINETEEN THIRTY-SIX, BENET PUBLISHED A STORY CALLED 'THE DEVIL
AND DANIEL WEBSTER." IT IS A STORY ABOUT A FARMER WHO SELLS HIS
SOUL TO THE DEVIL IN EXCHANGE FOR TEN YEARS OF GOOD LUCK. TEN
YEARS GO BY, AND THE DEVIL COMES TO COLLECT THE FARMER'S SOUL.
THE FARMER BEGS THE GREAT AMERICAN STATESMAN, DANIEL WEBSTER, TO
DEFEND HIM BEFORE A JURY CHOSEN BY THE DEVIL. WEBSTER AGREES.
AND THE POWER AND EMOTION OF THE GREAT STATEMEN'S VOICE WINS THE
CASE FOR THE FARMER. THE STORY BEGINS LIKE THIS:
VOICE THREE:
"YES. DAN'L WEBSTER'S DEAD, OR AT LEAST, THEY BURIED HIM. BUT
EVERY TIME THERE'S A STORM, THEY SAY YOU CAN HEAR HIS ROLLING
VOICE IN THE EMPTY PLACES IN THE SKY. AND THEY SAY THAT IF YOU
GO TO WHERE HE'S BURIED, AND SPEAK LOUD AND CLEAR - "DAN'L
WEBSTER! DAN'L WEBSTER -- THE GROUND'LL BEGIN TO SHAKE. AND
AFTER A WHILE YOU'LL HEAR A DEEP VOICE SAYING, 'NEIGHBOR! HOW
STANDS THE NATION?'
"YOU SEE FOR A WHILE, HE WAS THE BIGGEST MAN IN THE COUNTRY. HE
NEVER GOT TO BE PRESIDENT. BUT HE WAS THE BIGGEST MAN. THERE
WERE THOUSANDS THAT TRUSTED HIM RIGHT NEXT TO GOD ALMIGHTY. AND
THEY TOLD STORIES ABOUT HIM.
"THEY SAID WHEN HE STOOD UP TO SPEAK. . . STARS CAME RIGHT OUT IN
THE SKY. AND ONCE HE SPOKE AGAINST A RIVER. . . . AND MADE IT SINK
INTO THE GROUND. AND THE FISH WOULD JUMP RIGHT OUT OF THE WATER
INTO HIS HANDS. . . FOR THEY KNEW IT WAS NO USE PUTTING UP A FIGHT
AGAINST HIM. AND THE BIGGEST LEGAL CASE HE ARGUED NEVER GOT
WRITTEN DOWN IN THE BOOKS. . . FOR HE ARGUED IT AGAINST THE DEVIL."
VOICE TWO:
THE DEVIL AND DANIEL WEBSTER WAS ANOTHER GREAT SUCCESS FOR
STEPHEN VINCENT BENET. THE STORY WAS MADE INTO A PLAY, AN OPERA
AND A MOTION PICTURE. WITH THAT SUCCESS BENET WAS ABLE TO GET
GUARANTEES OF PAYMENT FOR HIS WORK. HE WAS ABLE TO PAY WHAT HE
OWED. PUBLISHERS ASKED HIM TO HELP CHOOSE WHICH NEW BOOKS WOULD
BE PRINTED. AND THEY ASKED HIM TO GIVE ADVICE TO YOUNG WRITERS.
VOICE ONE:
TOWARD THE END OF THE NINETEEN-THIRTIES, BENET BECAME INTERESTED
IN POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS IN EUROPE. HE BEGAN TO WRITE MORE
POLITICAL PIECES. AFTER WORLD WAR TWO BEGAN, HE PUT ASIDE HIS
OTHER WORK AND WROTE ONLY FOR THE ALLIED CAUSE. HE WROTE FOR
RADIO BROADCASTS AND DOCUMENTARY FILMS. HE WORKED FOR AID FOR
THE FRENCH AND THE RUSSIAN PEOPLE. HE WROTE A SMALL BOOK CALLED
AMERICA FOR THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT. THE BOOK BEGAN:
"THERE IS A COUNTRY OF HOPE. . . THERE IS A COUNTRY OF FREEDOM. IT
HAS MADE MISTAKES AT HOME, MISTAKES IN ITS RELATIONS WITH THE
WORLD. BUT IT LOOKS TO THE FUTURE ALWAYS."
VOICE TWO:
STEPHEN VINCENT BENET'S HEALTH WAS NOT EQUAL TO HIS SPIRIT. HE
DIED OF A HEART ATTACK IN NEW YORK IN MARCH,
NINETEEN-FORTY-THREE. HE WAS FORTY-FOUR YEARS OLD.
THE NEXT YEAR, HIS COLLECTION OF POEMS CALLED, 'WESTERN STAR' WON
THE PULITZER PRIZE FOR POETRY. AND AMERICAN TROOPS BEGAN GIVING
HIS BOOK "AMERICA" TO PEOPLE ALL OVER EUROPE AND ASIA, AS WORLD
WAR TWO WAS COMING TO AN END.
(THEME)
ANNCR:
YOU HAVE BEEN LISTENING TO THE SPECIAL ENGLISH PROGRAM PEOPLE IN
AMERICA. YOUR NARRATORS WERE DOUG JOHNSON, LARRY WEST AND WARREN SCHEER. OUR PROGRAM WAS WRITTEN BY BARBARA DASH. LISTEN AGAIN NEXT WEEK AT THIS SAME TIME FOR ANOTHER PEOPLE IN AMERICA PROGRAM ON THE VOICE OF AMERICA.
Source: www.voa.gov/special/