Toward the end of the “Hawthorne” essay in Essays Before a Sonata, Ives refers to “the old hymn-tune that haunts the church and sings only to those in the churchyard to protect them from secular noises, as when the circus parade comes down Main Street….” In writing my Concord Sonata book I’ve read, or in many cases reread, almost all of Hawthorne, especially the stories and novels in which this kind of reference might arise, and I can’t find anything Ives could have been referring to. As I continue slogging through the remainder (and I have to admit, I really, really don’t like Hawthorne – he’s a brilliant describer of certain psychological states, but I weary of his reflexive circumlocutions and the inevitable supernatural shticks that clog his narratives) – is there any Hawthorne scholar or lover out there who recognizes where this could have come from? There’s a thank-you in my acknowledgements in it for you.
A Concordian Hail-Mary Pass
June 26, 2012 by
I am no Hawthorne scholar but you might try asking Professor Philip Gura whose 2007 book American Transcendentalism is certainly worth a read. You may contact him at:
Contact Info
Web: gura.web.unc.edu
Email: gura@email.unc.edu
Phone: 919-962-4033
Facsimile: 919-962-3520
Mail: CB 3520
University of North Carolina
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
27599-3520
Hope this saves your having to read all of Hawthorne (shudder).
Allan
KG replies: Good idea. I already tried Bard’s Hawthorne scholar. I wrote Dr. Gura a fan letter once after reading American Transcendentalism, and I’m about to read it again. He didn’t respond (as I assured him he didn’t need to), and I hate to bother strangers. Besides, Hawthorne wasn’t *really* a Transcendentalist, and Gura seems to only mention him in passing.