bronzeage
I am a river to my people
- Joined
- Jun 20, 2005
- Posts
- 49,685
James Ryder Randall is winner of the better late than never award
"If it had not been for The Book Club of Pointe Coupee, the people of the parish would never have known that one of the most famous poems of the 19th century was written there.
James Ryder Randall wrote “Maryland, My Maryland” on April 26, 1861, during the one year he taught at old Poydras College, just outside New Roads. Not long after it was written, the poem was set to music and became a popular Confederate battle song of the Civil War.
Almost since its founding in 1926, The Book Club has worked to preserve the memory of Randall, the poem and a famous oak that marks the spot of Poydras College.
On April 26, 1938, the club dedicated a monument to Randall “along the side of Louisiana Highway 1, in view of the surviving tree that once stood in front of the college,” said David Breidenbach, who with his wife, Madeline, a member of The Book Club, now owns a large part of the Poydras College site.
In 2005, a car badly damaged the monument. Through the work of The Book Club, the monument has been moved to a safe location in front of the oak and will be rededicated April 2, 150 years after the poem was written."
Maryland! My Maryland
The despot's heel is on thy shore,
Maryland!
His torch is at thy temple door,
Maryland!
Avenge the patriotic gore
That flecked the streets of Baltimore,
And be the battle queen of yore,
Maryland! My Maryland!
Maryland! My Maryland was set to the tune if "O, Tannenbaum" (O' Christmas Tree) and later became the state song of Maryland.
"If it had not been for The Book Club of Pointe Coupee, the people of the parish would never have known that one of the most famous poems of the 19th century was written there.
James Ryder Randall wrote “Maryland, My Maryland” on April 26, 1861, during the one year he taught at old Poydras College, just outside New Roads. Not long after it was written, the poem was set to music and became a popular Confederate battle song of the Civil War.
Almost since its founding in 1926, The Book Club has worked to preserve the memory of Randall, the poem and a famous oak that marks the spot of Poydras College.
On April 26, 1938, the club dedicated a monument to Randall “along the side of Louisiana Highway 1, in view of the surviving tree that once stood in front of the college,” said David Breidenbach, who with his wife, Madeline, a member of The Book Club, now owns a large part of the Poydras College site.
In 2005, a car badly damaged the monument. Through the work of The Book Club, the monument has been moved to a safe location in front of the oak and will be rededicated April 2, 150 years after the poem was written."
Maryland! My Maryland
The despot's heel is on thy shore,
Maryland!
His torch is at thy temple door,
Maryland!
Avenge the patriotic gore
That flecked the streets of Baltimore,
And be the battle queen of yore,
Maryland! My Maryland!
Maryland! My Maryland was set to the tune if "O, Tannenbaum" (O' Christmas Tree) and later became the state song of Maryland.
