Marianne Moore's "The Camperdown Elm" and the Revival of Brooklyn's Prospect Park

Authors

  • Kirby Olson SUNY Delhi

Keywords:

Prospect Park in Brooklyn, poetry, Olmsted, Marianne Moore

Abstract

A little-known poem of Marianne Moore's entitled “The Camperdown Elm” has recently been the recipient of more attention among scholars. Published in 1967 when Moore was nearly eighty years old, the poem is credited with bringing financial assistance to an ailing ornamental tree in Brooklyn's Prospect Park. The tree's history, and the story behind Moore's poem, have been sketchy. This article resuscitates the history of the tree, some of the history of the park, and some of the history of the financially troubled era in which Moore's poem was written. The poem provides a strong paradigm for eco-activist poetics, and yet is also so particular to its time and place that it may be unique. Moore herself was asked for several encores to save other trees and parks in the New York City area, but this one poem remains her only eco-activist effort, but one that was successful in bringing together many different agencies, and which continues to inspire Brooklynites to work for the park's survival.

Author Biography

Kirby Olson, SUNY Delhi

Full professor, Humanities, SUNY-Delhi. Several books, including Comedy after Postmodernism (Texas Tech University, 2001), Gregory Corso: Doubting Thomist (Southern Illinois UP 2002), and Andrei Codrescu & the Myth of America (McFarland 2005).

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Published

2011-07-17

How to Cite

Olson, K. (2011). Marianne Moore’s "The Camperdown Elm" and the Revival of Brooklyn’s Prospect Park. Journal of Ecocriticism, 3(2), 16–27. Retrieved from https://ojs.unbc.ca/index.php/joe/article/view/270