Sweet Auburn: The Magazine of the Friends of Mount Auburn Mount Auburn: Chapters of Poetry & Prose | Page 9

“... upon the borders of two worlds...”
Lanie
by Jane Kurtz (2010)
Mount Auburn is well beloved in the birding community
“Where are we going?” she asked me after we’d walked a little ways.
for its significance as a Massachusetts Important Bird Area.
“Bird-watching,” I said, handing her a muffin as we turned
In 2010, author Jane Kurtz drew upon this aspect of Mount
the corner. At the end of the next block we crossed the street and
Auburn’s story for Lanie, a book
entered Mount Auburn Cemetery.
in the popular “American Girl”
Even though it was only about seven in the morn-
series written for young readers.
ing, we weren’t alone. In fact, we were prac tically
Lanie lives in Boston and though
part of a parade. All along the path, little groups of
a “city girl” by circumstance,
people were staring into branches, peering through
knows that she was born with
binoculars, and pointing. Emily and I looked into
“outside genes.” Her experience
the branches as we passed a few groups, but we
bird watching at Mount Au-
couldn’t see anything. Finally the path was blocked
burn celebrates a long-standing
by a crowd of people gazing up into a tree, and we
tradition of children learning
had to stop.
to bird watch at the Cemetery
“What is it?” I whispered to a teenage girl who
and also serves as a reminder
was
staring through a small pair of binoculars.
that Mount Auburn is as much
Her binoculars didn’t budge. “A scarlet tanager.”
a place to inspire the living as it
is a place to bury the dead and
I got my binoculars up and looked where the girl
console the bereaved. “Ameri-
was looking. Suddenly, a blazing red bird with shiny
can Girl wanted a story about a
black wings was right there in my lenses. “Ooh-la-
girl who loves science and cares
la,” I breathed.
about the earth—and they gave
Part of me wanted to stay at Mount Auburn all
me a choice of two cities for the
day
and keep discovering new birds. But another
A young birder at Mount Auburn keeps her
setting, one of which was Bos-
part
of me couldn’t wait to get back home and start
binoculars focused on a Great Horned Owl
ton,” says Kurtz. “I chose Boston
near Consecration Dell.
on my new journal from Aunt Hannah, making field
because I have a friend who’s an
notes and drawings on everything we’d seen. And
avid birder. At the time, I was a
now I had a whole bunch of birds to add to my Life List.
total beginner—and he said, ‘The show begins and ends at
When it came to watching wildlife, maybe Boston wasn’t so
Mount Auburn Cemetery.’ So I flew to Boston, and off we
boring
after all.
went to Mount Auburn Cemetery to learn about birds!”
Conclusion
Throughout its history, Mount Auburn has evoked literary
reflections on life, death, the mourning of lives lost, and the
celebration of lives well lived. The experience of the physical
space provides inspiration for an examination of what it is
to be human, in its most shining as well as its darker mo-
ments. From the discovery of a natural oasis to musings on
those who we have lost to illustrations on the complexities
of family relations, these writings about Mount Auburn pro-
vide a mirror for our own lives. At Mount Auburn, as Joseph
Story said in his 1831 Consecration Address, “We stand, as
it were, upon the borders of two worlds; and as the mood
of our minds may be, we may gather lessons of profound
wisdom by contrasting the one with the other, or indulge
in the dreams of hope and ambition, or solace our hearts by
melancholy meditations.” His words are no less true today
than they were in 1831, as writers, poets, and literary artists
continue to explore the beauty, wonder, and emotion of
Mount Auburn.
The poems and passages featured in this article, which have been used with permission from the author/publisher when appropriate, are from the following sources:
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The New Adam and Eve” from Mosses From An Old Manse (New York: The Modern Library, 2003), pg. 210-211.
James Russell Lowell’s “The First Snowfall” from The Poetical Works of James Russell Lowell (Boston: James R. Osgood and Co., 1877), pg. 336-337.
George P. Marquand’s The Late George Apley (Franklin Center, PA: The Franklin Library, 1977), pg. 203-204, abridged.
Robert Creely’s “Stairway to Heaven” from The Collected Poems of Robert Creeley 1975 – 2005 (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2006), pg. 293.
Lisa Genova’s Still Alice (New York: Pocket Books, 2007), pg. 76-78, abridged.
Jane Kurtz’s Lanie (Middleton, WI: American Girl Publishing, Inc., 2010), pg. 81-84, abridged.
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