Explore American Literature: The Little-Neck Clam Poem

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American Literature – Children Books – American Poetry – Henry Van Dyke – Poems by Henry Van Dyke
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The Little-Neck Clam

A modern verse-sequence, showing how a native American subject, strictly
realistic, may be treated in various manners adapted to the
requirements of different magazines, thus combining Art-for-Art’s-Sake
with Writing-for-the-Market. Read at the First Dinner of the American
Periodical Publishers’ Association, in Washington, April, 1904.

I

THE ANTI-TRUST CLAM

For McClure’s Magazine

The clam that once, on Jersey’s banks,Was like the man who dug it, free,Now slave-like thro’ the market clanksIn chains of corporate tyranny.

The Standard Fish-Trust of New YorkHolds every clam-bank in control;And like base Beef and menial Pork,The free-born Clam has lost its soul.

No more the bivalve treads the sandsIn freedom’s rapture, free from guilt:It follows now the harsh commandsOf Morgiman and Rockabilt.

Rise, freemen, rise! Your wrath is just!Call on the Sherman Act to damThe floods of this devouring Trust,And liberate the fettered Clam.

II

THE WHITMANIAC CLAM

For the Bookman

Not Dante when he wandered by the river Arno,Not Burns who plowed the banks and braes of bonnie Ayr,Not even Shakspere on the shores of Avon,—ah, no!Not one of those great bards did taste true Poet’s Fare.

But Whitman, loafing in Long Island and New Jersey,Found there the sustenance of mighty ode and psalm,And while his rude emotions swam around in verse, heFed chiefly on the wild, impassioned, sea-born clam.

Thus in his work we feel the waves’ bewildering motion,And winds from mighty mud-flats, weird and wild:His clam-filled bosom answered to the voice of ocean,And rose and fell responsively with every tide.

III

IL MERCATORE ITALIANO DELLA CLAMMA

For the Century Magazine

“Clam O! Fres’ Clam!” How strange it sounds and sweet,The Dago’s cry along the New York street!“Dago” we call him, like the thoughtless crowd;And yet this humble man may well be proudTo hail from Petrarch’s land, Boccaccio’s home,—Firenze, Gubbio, Venezia, Rome,—From fair Italia, whose enchanted soilTransforms the lowly cotton-seed to olive-oil.

To me his chant, with alien accent sung,Brings back an echo of great Virgil’s tongue:It seems to cry against the city’s woe,In liquid Latin syllables,—Clamo!As thro’ the crowded street his cart he jamsAnd cries aloud, ah, think of more than clams!Receive his secret plaint with pity warm,And grant Italia’s plea for Tenement-House Reform!

IV

THE SOCIAL CLAM

For the Smart Set

Fair Phyllis is another’s bride:Therefore I like to sit besideHer at a very smart set dinner,And whisper love, and try to win her.

The little-necks,—in number six,—That from their pearly shells she picksAnd swallows whole,—ah, is it selfishTo wish my heart among those shell-fish?

“But Phyllis is another’s wife;And if she should absorb thy life‘Twould leave thy bosom vacant.”—Well,I’d keep at least the empty shell!

V

THE RECREANT CLAM

For the Outlook

Low dost thou lie amid the languid ooze,Because thy slothful spirit doth refuseThe bliss of battle and the strain of strife.Rise, craven clam, and lead the strenuous life!

< < < The House of Rimmon Act 1 – Act 2 – Act 3 – Act 4
A Fairy Tale > > >

American Literature – Children Books – American Poetry – Henry Van Dyke – Poems by Henry Van Dyke

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Poem: “The Little-Neck Clam” by Henry Van Dyke