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RUJ in IN

 Poets from Indiana, Robert Underwood Johnson


I know, you're like, wait, that guy looks old. Yep, Robert Underwood Johnson died in 1937. He lived through the Civil War, served as an ambassador to Italy, went camping with John Muir (yes, that one), argued for copyright laws, argued for land conservation and women's rights. He hung out with Teddy Roosevelt, Augustus Saint-Gaudens, Ulysses S. Grant, Henry James, and many others. And yes, he grew up in Indiana and graduated from Earlham College in Richmond at the age of 14. Still, even more importantly, he was a poet with many books to his name. I first came across his work in Eletha Mae Taylor's Indiana Poetry compilation. It contains this poem, "Titian's Two Loves, in the Borghese."

            One forgets not the first dead he sorrowed over; 

            One forgets not the first kiss of the first lover.

            Not the dust of ages could remembrance cover

            How in Titian's golden kingdom first I strayed. 

Here, Johnson describes his first encounter with Titian's art and how that encounter compared to some of the great events in his life. The form seems a bit dated now since poets have shaken off form a little these days, but the idea of being struck by a new artist is as vibrant now as when he wrote the piece. Clearly, he was spending part of his time in Italy expanding his horizons. 


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