The Muses Companion – June 19, 2024

Good day, readers. Today is June 19th, the 171st day of the year 2024, with 195 days remaining.

To be a person is to have a story to tell.

Isak Dinesen

Today in Literary History:

On this day in 1865, Juneteenth was commemorated for the first time in Texas, marking the emancipation of the last remaining enslaved African Americans in the Confederacy. This day has inspired numerous works of literature, including Ralph Ellison’s Juneteenth, which explores themes of identity, freedom, and the complexities of American history.

Notable Birthdays:

Blaise Pascal, born on June 19, 1623, was a French mathematician, physicist, inventor, writer, and Catholic theologian. His works, such as Pensées, are celebrated for their deep philosophical insights and have profoundly influenced both literature and science.

Today’s Readings:

From Beloved by Toni Morrison: “Freeing yourself was one thing, claiming ownership of that freed self was another.”

Literary Fact of the Day:

On June 19th, 1947, Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl was first published in Dutch, offering an intimate and powerful account of a Jewish teenager’s life in hiding during the Nazi occupation. The diary has since become a pivotal piece of Holocaust literature, highlighting the enduring spirit of humanity in the face of profound adversity.

Poem of the Day:

“Let America Be America Again” by Langston Hughes:

Let America be America again.
Let it be the dream it used to be.
Let it be the pioneer on the plain
Seeking a home where he himself is free.

(America never was America to me.)

Let America be the dream the dreamers dreamed—
Let it be that great strong land of love
Where never kings connive nor tyrants scheme
That any man be crushed by one above.

(It never was America to me.)

O, let my land be a land where Liberty
Is crowned with no false patriotic wreath,
But opportunity is real, and life is free,
Equality is in the air we breathe.

(There’s never been equality for me,
Nor freedom in this “homeland of the free.”)

Say, who are you that mumbles in the dark?
And who are you that draws your veil across the stars?

I am the poor white, fooled and pushed apart,
I am the Negro bearing slavery’s scars.
I am the red man driven from the land,
I am the immigrant clutching the hope I seek—
And finding only the same old stupid plan
Of dog eat dog, of mighty crush the weak.

I am the young man, full of strength and hope,
Tangled in that ancient endless chain
Of profit, power, gain, of grab the land!
Of grab the gold! Of grab the ways of satisfying need!
Of work the men! Of take the pay!
Of owning everything for one’s own greed!

I am the farmer, bondsman to the soil.
I am the worker sold to the machine.
I am the Negro, servant to you all.
I am the people, humble, hungry, mean—
Hungry yet today despite the dream.
Beaten yet today—O, Pioneers!
I am the man who never got ahead,
The poorest worker bartered through the years.

Yet I’m the one who dreamt our basic dream
In the Old World while still a serf of kings,
Who dreamt a dream so strong, so brave, so true,
That even yet its mighty daring sings
In every brick and stone, in every furrow turned
That’s made America the land it has become.
O, I’m the man who sailed those early seas
In search of what I meant to be my home—
For I’m the one who left dark Ireland’s shore,
And Poland’s plain, and England’s grassy lea,
And torn from Black Africa’s strand I came
To build a “homeland of the free.”

The free?

Who said the free? Not me?
Surely not me? The millions on relief today?
The millions shot down when we strike?
The millions who have nothing for our pay?
For all the dreams we’ve dreamed
And all the songs we’ve sung
And all the hopes we’ve held
And all the flags we’ve hung,
The millions who have nothing for our pay—
Except the dream that’s almost dead today.

O, let America be America again—
The land that never has been yet—
And yet must be—the land where every man is free.
The land that’s mine—the poor man’s, Indian’s, Negro’s, ME—
Who made America,
Whose sweat and blood, whose faith and pain,
Whose hand at the foundry, whose plow in the rain,
Must bring back our mighty dream again.

Sure, call me any ugly name you choose—
The steel of freedom does not stain.
From those who live like leeches on the people’s lives,
We must take back our land again,
America!

O, yes,
I say it plain,
America never was America to me,
And yet I swear this oath—
America will be!

Out of the rack and ruin of our gangster death,
The rape and rot of graft, and stealth, and lies,
We, the people, must redeem
The land, the mines, the plants, the rivers.
The mountains and the endless plain—
All, all the stretch of these great green states—
And make America again!

Langston Hughes’ poem speaks to the ongoing struggle for equality and justice in America, capturing the hopes and disappointments of a nation striving to live up to its ideals. The powerful and resonant themes make it a fitting selection for today.

Advice for Writers:

Inspired by Isak Dinesen’s assertion about the importance of stories, think about how you can tell the stories that matter most to you. Whether it’s through fiction, memoir, or poetry, consider how your unique perspective can contribute to a larger conversation and connect with readers on a profound level.

Have a day filled with thoughtful reflection and impactful storytelling, dear readers. Until tomorrow, may your words carry the power to enlighten and transform.