PostPoems Be Artistic. Be Creative. Be Inspired!

Welcome; welcome to SweetLease.  I am the curator here.  And

you are Lolly?  Meeting Kai here in a little while?  Your literature

instructor spoke very highly of both of you, and of your interest in the

poetry of Sundial.  You are doing your entire semester project on it?

That is very good to here, and we will help you as much as possible.

Too many haters and old prudes still attempt to suppress or deny the

Poet's rising reputation.  Why, yes, of course you can remove your heels.

No surface, within the house, or outside on the grounds, should cause any

damage to your vintage stockings?  Yes, I can recognize them as

vintage---the dark tan color, the opaque reinforcements at your heels and

toes.  And Kai loves to see you wear that sun-dress?  Then your afternoon

here at SweetLease should be both educational and delightful, which is

always the best aspect of the best of poetry, would you not agree?  Thiis

farn house, and the acreage around it---from here to the walnot woods

westward---had been in the Poet's family for several generations, since

before the separation of the thirteen colonies from England.  His grandfather,

from whom Sundial inherited the property---named it SweetLease (not a

mere affectation, as the haters and old prudes of that era judged it), because,

he believed, his family did not really own it, but had only leased it from God,

but the lease and the lifestyle it provided, was very, very sweet,  The

Poet retained the name, and it eventually became part of the official

address.  The deaths of the Poet and then, a decade and a half later, of

his lover, Gnomon, placed it in the hands of the County Historical Society,

which has registered it on the list of National Historic Sites.  The rooms that

surround us, and their contents, have been kept exactly the same as they

were when Gnomon passed away; and he had kept much of it, as much as

it as possible, as it had been after Sundial also succumbed to death.  This

floor is dominated by the room that served as the Poet's library and as his

his writing room.  On the north wall, and totally occupying its full height, is the

portrait of Gnomon, clad as when the Poet had met him---cropped athletic tee,

work-out shorts, and those high socks in school colors.  Gnomon's shoes are

conspicuously absent from the painting, and he is said to despise the confinement

represented by shoes; as, young lady, I suspect you share that sentiment.  And

Kai will be dressed, today, similarly to Gnomon's appearance.  Gnomon would

have been pleased by that.  Over in that corner. by the east facing window is the

Poet's writing desk.  The manuscripts, which had been hitherto transcribed and

catalogued, remain as they were when the poet passed away.  So here, he often

sat, surrounded by his multitude of books, some of them very valuable first

editions collected by his ancestors who, although farmers, were neither

illiterate nor shallowly read.  While you are visiting, you may have access to

any of the rooms.  Shall we step out to the grounds now?  The afternoon is

beautiful, the air balmy, and all of the flowers are in bloom.  You will be able to

see Kai's arrival better from outside.