I had a wonderful time at the Poets in Nassau talk on Feb. 22. Thank you to everyone who came out. It was a great group, which held an open reading after my talk. I’m ashamed to say I had no idea Long Island had such a lively poetry scene. I discussed Hosmer’s relationship with Elizabeth Barrett and Robert Browning, who were early supporters of the artist. (Virginia Woolf even mentions Hosmer in Flush, her biography of Elizabeth’s dog, a book I highly recommend.) I also discussed some poetry Hosmer herself wrote, including the The Doleful Ditty of the Roman Caffe Grecco. Hosmer published this poem in New York Evening Post in 1864, while she was defending herself against accusations that her stonecutters were responsible for her work. (They did do the actual carving, as was the case in the Roman studios of most of the American artists in Italy). The Caffe Grecco, which still exists, was a popular gathering point for expatriates in Rome. In this poem, Hosmer mocks male sculptors who claim women artists are stealing their thunder, depicting them as lazy gossips. Early in the poem, one male artist proclaims, “‘Tis time my friend we cogitate/ And make some desperate stand/ or else our sister artists here/will drive us from this land.” Eventually one man rises to defend the women, noting “Suppose you try another plan/ More worthy of art and you:/ Suppose you give them for their works/ The credit which is due/ And honest and kindly word/ If spoken now and then/ Would prove what seems a doubtful point/ You could at least be men.” That last line got a big laugh.
The photos below are by Lorraine Conlin, who also hosted the event, read a lovely poem herself, and gave me a ride to the train station afterwards. The sculpture I am holding is a reproduction of Hosmer’s Hands of the Brownings, which can be purchased at the gift shop of the Metropolitan Museum of art.
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