WEBVTT

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Now I'll get to the program of--

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the first poem in
the program is--

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yeah, is a poem
called The Departure.

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And the occasion
for this, I think

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it is some sort of academic
interest anyway for the poets.

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I have been staying at an
artist colony in New Hampshire

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for about a month,
the MacDowell Colony,

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and it's a very nice colony.

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They leave you alone.

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They put you out in the
woods, and there you are.

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And the longest
poem, which I'm going

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to read a little bit
later, The Seven Days,

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was also written then.

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It put you out in the woods,
and there you are, alone

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with yourself and you don't know
how long you could stand it,

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but you work.

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And then you start to
go out in the world.

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And there's this kind
of missionary business

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of going out, and doing
something about reforming

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everybody, making them better.

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Involved in leaving the artist
colony, with all your poems

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under your arms, especially
if you're going to do what

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I was doing that summer.

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I was heading off to
the Library of Congress.

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And so I had a great
sense of mission,

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and yet I felt kind of foolish.

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And so here's this poem about
leaving the MacDowell Colony.

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The artist must leave
these woods now.

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He must put his books and
files back in the car,

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and stuff his bags and shirts,
and shorts and sweaters.

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And clean his room
and take a load

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to the dump,
wherever the dump is.

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And go the rounds, and say
goodbye to the artists, goodbye.

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And the trees, goodbye.

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And cash a check,
and fill up with gas

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and set out for the world again.

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The world, to talk up art.

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The world likes that.

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It likes to get news of the
spirit fresh from the woods.

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What birds are saying and frogs.

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Its system is very thirsty.

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The artist will fix that.

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He will bring in a car load of
essences, quick on the thruway.

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Mists for everyone's parlor,
sunsets done up nice.

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Cities want their
essences done up nice.

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So the artist must
leave these woods now.

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For that.

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He takes a last
walk in the woods.

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What is the news, woods?

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And the woods reply,
in their woodsy way,

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that the news is woods, woods.

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And he hears the news,
notes it down and walks back

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to his shirts and sweaters.

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While out of the sky, art in its
arty way keeps saying, goodbye.

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