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The Knight of Monticello
Everywhere and always, Jefferson read.
His library stocked a sage’s daily bread.
Four volumes, leather-bound, well-thumbed, perused:
Don Quixote, his most peculiar muse.
He understood as written, Spanish words,
no episodes obscured, no meanings blurred.
Delighting in that knight’s befuddled thoughts,
he seemed to mold his own audacious plots
after Mancha’s whimsical ideals—
to dream, then bring some fantasy to heel,
some hare-brained notion, ludicrous, yet bold,
a mesmerized hidalgo’s bright fools-gold.
Outré, to build a magisterial home
atop a waterless hill, a Palladian dome
for charting stars. All scoffed, said no one could,
employing rustic red-brick, limestone, wood.
He penned a Declaration of Independence:
intrepid, daring brutal British vengeance.
Louisiana, a gambler president’s throw,
to win an outsize realm, soon westward grow.
The goals of Lewis’s costly exploration:
pinpoint maps; perceptive observation.
This Founding Father represents our best,
eccentric polymath on offbeat quests.
Cervantes, thanks! Your singular brain-child
inspired brash exploits in Virginia’s wild.
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Mary Jane Myers resides in Springfield, Illinois. She is a retired JD/CPA tax specialist. Her debut short story collection Curious Affairs was published by Paul Dry Books in 2018.
What a fantastic poem about intrepid Thomas Jefferson as related to Don Quixote, not only charging at windmills but also overcoming obstacles that made others shy away. Your brilliant words shine through and were a treat to the mind and soul.
Roy
Apologies for not responding. Thank you for your kind words. A visit to Monticello inspired me to write this poem. Most sincerely, Mary Jane
Yours a review as good as the poem . What would any of us write, if thd challenge were to show Thomas Jefferson. a worthy student of Don Quiote(sp)? We all know the tilting at windmills passage; no biographer oc Jefferson could published volume which used, thoroughly, that parallel? Yet the poet saw it and wrote it.
And truth to tell, don’t we all, idealists living our ultimate as poets,
share the same roles?
Ms. Myers, Please forgive the jncorrected misspellings in my response. No excuse. I hope my appreciative message – your ability to see the relationship between Jefferson and the utopian character — a d our own similarity — comes through.
wonderful history lesson writen in poetry,
Wayne Apologies for my late response. Thank you for your kind words.
Most sincerely
Mary Jane
Nice to see a resurgence of quality patriotic verse about the founders, a sensibility which has been out of vogue for so long now. Quixote is an inspired comparison.
Dear ABB
Thank you for your kind words. Apologies for this late response. I wrote the first version of this poem some 10 years ago. PC of course was rampant, though the more toxic “woke-ness” had not yet reared its ugly head. I was participating in an on-line poetry-writing class. The instructor, a thirty-something woman, was not happy. It seems I hadn’t gotten the memo, that Jefferson abused Sally Hemings, etc. etc. I used to think these throwaway comments were mere nonsense, but unfortunately this puerile cynicism has now infected the general public, and poses a serious attack on our founding principles.
Most sincerely, Mary Jane
I’ve heard that the skewed American reading of Don Quixote as a heroic visionary was partly the result of the musical “The Man of La Mancha” – didn’t know it went back even farther!
Dear Jeremiah
Thank you for your comment–apologies for my late response. Thank goodness for skewed American mis-readings! A people can build a prosperous nation out of such!
Most sincerely
Mary Jane
Myers’ poem is clear, intelligent, sophisticated, and composed with an impressive command of diction. She links Jefferson with his fictional hero in terms of daring, imaginative leaps, and dreams — but in fact Jefferson was different from the knight of la Mancha. His purchase of the Louisiana territory was an absolutely brilliant piece of statesmanship and diplomacy that doubled the size of the United States and set the stage for the fulfillment of our manifest destiny. His sending of the Lewis and Clark exploration team gave us crucial knowledge that made the absorption and assimilation of this vast territory easier and smoother.
Don Quixote could never have pulled off this kind of sharp political maneuvering. He was purely a dreamer. Jefferson may indeed have been an eccentric polymath who was occasionally offbeat, but he was also a shrewd political operator who knew how to maintain and promote his nation’s best interests.
I’m glad to see poems with a deep sense of history.
Dear Joseph
Thank you for your kind and intelligent words. Apologies for not responding earlier. The Idea of America seems to have been cobbled together by geniuses from two disparate worlds: frugal Yankees and spendthrift Southern planters (as illustrated by the John Adams/Jefferson rivalry, explained so well in David McCollough’s biography of Adams). I agree with you: Jefferson was a shrewd politician, who knew how to “get hard things done.”
Most sincerely
Mary Jane
isn’t it amazing what inspires humans?
excellent poem!!!
Thank you Marie for your kind words. Apologies for my late response.
Most sincerely
Mary Jane
The poem offers an unusual perspective into Jefferson’s imagination. The Founding Father was also, as Joseph Salemi remarks, a shrewd politician, and you, Mary Jane, call him a “sage” in your second line. Indeed, creative vision with wise competence made this Virginian a shaper of American destiny.
Dear Margaret
Thank you for your kind comments. Apologies for my late response. My “unusual perspective” arose from a visit to Monticello 10 years ago. I was nosing around a side-room in the library, having broken away (slightly!)from the guided group in the main library room. (At Monticello, guided groups are mandatory, and individuals are not free to wander around solo; though it’s always possible to go slightly AWOL!) I noticed several volumes of Don Quixote on a bookshelf. Ah hah! So self-evident truths include the pursuit of windmills! I was “grinning out loud”–and that night started scribbling a draft of this poem. I’m definitely taking poetic license!
Most sincerely,
Mary Jane
This was a well-crafted and educational work. I knew Jefferson had wide-ranging interests but had no idea about the connection to Don Quixote. It would be interesting to see what is on the bookshelves of recent Presidents. I don’t get the sense that politicians do much deep thinking anymore.
Dear Warren
Thank you for your kind words. Apologies for my late response. The Founders were well-read men. I agree with you. The “ideas” of today’s politicians seem limited to 30-second sound bytes and to the 280-character-limit in a Tweet!
Most sincerely
Mary Jane