| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| richfed |
Posted - February 24 2007 : 08:34:02 AM
Jamestown Settlement: An American Beginning
Though they came so long ago,
With hopes and dreams and toil;
Their legacy is with us still,
Their hoes bore fruit upon the soil.
Since that time we know so well,
Since brave souls first came ashore;
Their work to build a newer world,
Lives on forevermore.
We know the story, we know the lives,
We even know their hardships;
We'll not forget the price they paid,
Nor silence praise upon our lips.
Though far from home and cold they were,
Turn back they never would;
But hunt and chop and plant and sew,
Surviving best they could.
I sometimes dream of days gone by,
I smell the breads there backing;
I hear the blows of timber cut,
I feel the warm coals raking.
It is as though they're with me now,
These men of ages past;
And in a way it is the truth,
For their gift to us does last.
... Olivia Federici
Age 12
1ST Place Winner of county poetry contest |
| 10 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| blackfootblood |
Posted - July 08 2007 : 8:50:41 PM
I have to agree with you, Light!!!! |
| Light of the Moon |
Posted - July 03 2007 : 10:56:50 AM
Oh LW,
Did you have to go and squander a 12yr old's poem?
It was a beautiful tribute to our past .
Even if history wasn't clearly established in it.
Those details come in time. |
| lonewolf |
Posted - July 02 2007 : 10:29:32 PM
Hi Richfed,
I admire your poem, but the reality of those who landed at the Jamestowne settlement is a bit different from the poem. The first group were "hired contractors" who initially landed there. Not "noble settlers"! They were there to exploit the minerals, furs, etc. and ship the goods back to England. A permanent settlement was never a consideration. It was only supposed to be a temporary camp for the contractors. It was strictly a "moneymaking scheme" for the parent company of investors in England. All were going to return to England with their ships loaded with the wealth that they had found here. There were no white women among them.
Later, after others, including women arrived, the "settlement" turned into a real "hell-on-earth" for the settlers who weren't prepared for life in the wilderness of North America. Starvation, cannabalism, killing each other, crop failures, stealing from the local Indians, kidnapping Indians and holding them hostage for food, intrique amongst themselves, death and disease, seemed to be the "order of the day" for the inhabitants of early Jamestowne. They were filthy people who rarely bathed; the Powhatan Indians finally wanting nothing to do with them. Most of these English "settlers" would have gladly gone back to England if they had had the means to do so. They were a miserable lot in this colony!
I just danced at a Nottaway Indian pow-wow last weekend across the bay from this place, at Surry, Va. I am related to some of the Nottoways. I visited the original Jamestowne later in the week. There is the original Jamestowne, and there is the "rebuilt" one for the tourists about one-half mile away. There is not much left of the original site. It is now an archealogical site. I am related on my white side to three of the English families who were at this place in the 1600's. The English settlers left this place because it was infested with mosquitos,(half of the surrounding area is still nothing more than swamps) and moved up the James River a few miles, founding Williamsburg, Va. But I think that they took all of the mosquitos with them! LOL!
I am also related to Matoaka (Pocahontas) aka Rebecca Rolfe, through Rolfe family descendants. By the way, Pocahontas probably never "saved" the braggart Capt. John Smith from death at the hands of the Powhatans. She definitely didn't have an "affair" with him at the time, since she was only eleven years old when she supposedly "saved him"! This "tale" has never been proven (only in Hollywood). But it has been proven that Capt. Smith had a real bad habit of greatly stretching the truth.
I can admire the few first real settlers (some my white family ancestors)who survived this "hellhole", since there were only a handful who did.
It was really these first settlers who founded Williamsburg who established a real English "foothold" in North America; Jamestowne being abandoned and largely forgotten. They are only now digging the abandoned place up.
These settlers were not the first Europeans to establish colonies in North America, just the first "English" to do so. They were worried that the Spanish would attack Jamestowne and "remove" them by force.
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| caitlin |
Posted - February 27 2007 : 7:47:48 PM
I concur, excellent job, Olivia! |
| Gadget Girl |
Posted - February 27 2007 : 11:43:32 AM
Excellent work there, Olivia!!!!! I loved it!! |
| Kaylynn44 |
Posted - February 26 2007 : 8:19:50 PM
WOW!!! Olivia is only 12 and she wrote this poem??? She deserved to win 1st place!!! I know that you are a very proud papa 
Love,
Kay |
| Light of the Moon |
Posted - February 26 2007 : 12:02:33 AM
Great job, Olivia! Let me echo Irish's praise, "You have every right to be proud, Rich!" |
| Bookworm |
Posted - February 24 2007 : 11:35:46 AM
Twelve years old??!!! Very nice job, Olivia! Obviously your parents' love of history has been passed on. |
| Irishgirl |
Posted - February 24 2007 : 09:50:08 AM
Beautiful poem and I know you are very proud of her Rich. Thanks for sharing. |
| Wilderness Woman |
Posted - February 24 2007 : 09:47:29 AM
I see that writing talent runs deeply in the Federici Family. That is very beautiful! Well done, Olivia! Well done, indeed.
Congratulations! |
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