User talk:Popularnarrative

Robert Burns Wilson
I'm not sure I can concur with your interpretation of Wilson's importance. From the sketchy evidence I can find, it seems more likely that Wilson wrote his poem as a reaction to the popularity of the "Remember the Maine" slogan, not, as you have suggested, that his publication of the poem was the source of that slogan. WikiDan61 ChatMe!ReadMe!! 16:52, 25 January 2010 (UTC)

Interesting thought. I suggest you read through the letters that he wrote to John Fox, Jr. immediately following the incident and consider it further. Those letters are located at the Margaret I. King Library located at the University of Kentucky. Wilson's importance does not solely rest on his writing of "Remember the Maine." Personally, I do not believe that he should be known simply as the author of that poem. On a national scale, that is what he is best known for. I think his significance should be based on his talents as a Kentucky watercolor artist and poet. His work is often overshadowed by the paintings of Paul Sawyier. Wilson was an active member in the Frankfort community that spent time with the most affluent families in the Bluegrass. His paintings remain in those private family collections to this day. I suggest reading J. Winston Coleman's Robert Burns Wilson: Kentucky Painter, Novelist, and Poet to gain a better understanding of his importance in central Kentucky. For a real intersting read, look through Dr. Jillson's Romance & Reality. Cheers!


 * Unfortunately, I don't have access to the Margaret I. King Library. It seems that you do, however.  If you can cite quotations from the letters to indicate that my interpretation of the facts is incorrect, please do so.  In the meantime, I have taken the liberty of rewriting the article along the lines you have suggested; describing him as a noted poet and painter.  Apparently his noteworthiness was sufficient during his lifetime to gain note of his marriage and his death in The New York Times.  WikiDan61 ChatMe!ReadMe!! 13:06, 1 February 2010 (UTC)

I really don't know what you're wanting me to prove to you. This is a matter of interpretation. To each their own. My interpretation is based on primary research...Google and Wikipedia can only get you so far. Whether Wilson was the "source" of the phrase doesn't matter to me. I won't argue that because I frankly couldn't care much less about that poem...Wilson thought his best work was “Christ on the Field of Battle.” Let me quote for you the letter in which I will refer to more in a minute. This is from Wilson to Fox: "I have written many things of which I shall hope to talk with you. The last thing 'Christ on the Field of Battle' is I think the best I have done." The Maine exploded/sank on February 15, 1898. Wilson wrote his poem on March 14th, 1898 in Frankfort, KY (I am citing this from the sheet music and an original hand written copy of his poem that are currently on my desk). Now, was his poem a reaction to the popularity of the phrase "Remember the Maine, to Hell with Spain"? Perhaps. It wouldn't suprise me. I agree that the evidence of Wilson is sketchy. I have been less than impressed with what is available online. However, I firmly believe that Wilson was personally troubled by the incident because his dear friend, John Fox, Jr., was a war correspondent in Cuba, working for Harper's Weekly in 1898. Consider these quotes from the letter: "I have worried myself half sick a dozen times over that Cuban hell. I feel that I have been through it all and I have in spirit." "I was in constant dread about you but now that is over. I am glad you are there. I want to talk to you about it all." Cheers!