The Old South and John Crowe Ransom :: John Crowe Ransom Writers Poems Essays

The Old South and John Crowe ransomMost remember it as a sequence of dashing issue heroes on horseback, fair damselsin distress, and majestic castles hidden from the vulgarity of nonchalant life by the cool shade of fragrant magnolia and honeysuckle. It was a snip and place so far removed fromtodays unfaltering moving, billboard covered world that one could easily imagine that this doomedcivilization existed on some far off continent, or peradventure not at all. However, the factremains that once upon a time the doddering South did exist, and there are many people even sowho feel that the loss of this culture and its ideals is nothing short of a tragedy. unmatched such individual was John Crowe ransom money, a man whose life was inured with his intenseyearning for the tradition and stability that the old South embodied, and that has been upset forever amid the skyscrapers and factories that have replaced the cotton fields andplantation homes of long ago. The power tha t the old South held for Ransom drove hisworks, as can be evidenced in his verse form, Old Mansion, which describes his ultimatelyfutile attempts to return to the old traditions.The common thread unifying Ransoms work is that of hungriness for the stabilityand tradition that the old South embodies. As in his essays, this poem explores thepossibilities of what unlocking the secrets of this lost era might entail, and what benefits could be reaped in todays society from such an undertaking. In this poem, Ransom fails however, the poem remains an crucial step in his journey to seek out the old traditions and commingle them into a modern framework. To begin this journey, Ransom introduces the old mansion as a concrete concept to represent the traditional values and lifestyles sought. both bit of the structure, from its ivied columns, crumbling graveyard, and ultimately, its inhabitants themselves, serve as parables for Ransoms search. The lecture in the opening stanzas clearl y demonstrates the reverence andpersonal affinity Ransom feels for the plantation home, i.e. the old South. Yet despitethe fact that he wants nothing more than to return to this way of life, he still refers to himself as an intruder (ln 1) into this world that he cherishes so highly. Clearly,despite Ransoms trust for a return to these simpler times, he maintains a feeling ofrespect for the gone itself, and is not attempting to relive it. He is an intruder in this past, yet he wants desperately to understand its meaning, rather than just appreciate its beauty.