THE LEAN-TO ON ISAAC’S RUN<\/strong><\/p>\n Dear little house of slabs and bark,<\/em> Your bonfire burning high at night,<\/em> And on three sides the creek doth sing<\/em> And all night long it sings to me<\/em> — Mary Angela Melville<\/em> She later shared this poem among friends and sought to publish it. The exposure excited an exchange with Burton Rogers<\/a>\u00a0in 1967 regarding the history of the Lean-To and the various locations of the popular gathering place:<\/p>\n Dear Miss Melville:<\/em> I have but now been writing to Mary Rockwell Hook<\/a>….\u00a0I have taken the liberty of copying your new poem and sending it as well as “Mountain Creeks” to Mary Hook…<\/em><\/p>\n …Your account of the background of the lean-to is delightful; now we shall have\u00a0to do some research as to the exact location of what you call the “little lean-to.\u201d There is the big picnic area for Big Log lean-to some three or four hundred feet on up\u00a0the creek from Big Log House,<\/a> now overshadowed by tall trees and deep shade. You mention the cot being placed out by the little lean-to on the peninsula opposite Big\u00a0Log House. Actually now the creek takes quite a straight run in front of Big Log House\u00a0down to the big bend. I am therefore wondering if your adventure was in the\u00a0days before the creek was straightened. I am glad you included the account of the\u00a0thick rope circle Mr. Zande<\/a> laid down for you. We still have our rattlesnakes and\u00a0copperheads, although the rattlesnakes stay mostly on the mountain and are rarely\u00a0seen on the campus. (I understand that in the early years the Latin word campus\u00a0was avoided in favor of the Anglo-Saxon word grounds. However, we find it difficult\u00a0to substitute at all times.)<\/em><\/p>\n I am going to make a copy of your account of your lean-to adventure for Mrs. Rogers<\/a> to add to the special Pine Mountain Room collection of archives in our library, which is now housed in the entire main floor of Boys House<\/a>; and of course, she is having a copy of the delightful lean-to poem. She has a copy of “Mountain Creeks.” The spirit of the poem is still quite applicable to Isaac’s Creek, as more people nowadays seem to call it, although we still frequently call it “Isaac’s Run.”<\/em><\/p>\n Title<\/p>\n<\/td>\n Lean-To<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n Alt. Title<\/p>\n<\/td>\n Lean To<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n Identifier<\/p>\n<\/td>\n \n
\nMaking a spot of childish dark<\/em>
\nIn the candled light of this star-strewn night,<\/em>
\nHow may I write a song to your praise,<\/em>
\nHow may I hymn these gracious days<\/em>
\nFor others who walk in less happy ways?<\/em><\/p>\n
\nCasting its roseate rays to light<\/em>
\nThe manifold tiers of the sugar tree,<\/em>
\nFlatters the pine that it may be,<\/em>
\nCome next Christmas, the Christ-lit tree.<\/em><\/p>\n
\nAll night long of its venturing;<\/em>
\nHow it came out of the mountain-side,<\/em>
\nOut of the dark to seek its bride,<\/em>
\nYearning ever to lose its pride,<\/em>
\nTo drown itself in the ocean wide,<\/em>
\nIts being lost in the greater tide.<\/em><\/p>\n
\nIn a liquid voice as it seeks the sea;<\/em>
\nSings of stones and brown earth sweet<\/em>
\nAnd shadowed places where greens do meet.<\/em>
\nBut ever the push of its urging tide<\/em>
\nSeeketh\u00a0the sea, to be satisfied.<\/em><\/p>\n
\nAugust 1920<\/em><\/p>\n
\n …<\/em>
\n “Mountain Creeks\u201d was sent to the editor of <\/em>Mountain Life and Work, and I hope that It may appear sometime. They plan their issues rather far ahead. The current editor is\u00a0retiring as of tomorrow and I shall watch closely to see if I need to call\u00a0this to his successor\u2019s attentlon, when I learn who that is.<\/em><\/p>\nMarch 31, 1967\r\nMiss Angela Melville\r\nJamaica, West Indies<\/pre>\n
![\"melville_poem_d1\"](\"http:\/\/staging.pinemountainsettlement.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/melville_poem_d1.jpg\")
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