Luke Grayson

An Ode to the Advent of Spring (and Dartmouth's History)

While Winter has been amazing and all, I must confess that as of late I have been 'pining' for the coming of the Spring. I've made so many amazing memories this term; I've learned to snowboard, continued learning Italian, joined the Dartmouth Economics Research Scholars Program, and, of course, drank a lot of coffee. As the term draws to a close, though, my mind is drawn back to a poem by none other than Richard Hovey (Class of 1885) titled simply: Spring. I've included an excerpt from the poem here:

"I SAID in my heart, "I am sick of four walls and a ceiling.

I have need of the sky.

I have business with the grass.

I will up and get me away where the hawk is wheeling,

Lone and high,

And the slow clouds go by.

I will get me away to the waters that glass

The clouds as they pass"

—Richard Hovey '85

I resonate with Hovey, perhaps primarily because as a student of Dartmouth, I understand the importance that weather and season play in our daily lives. Each new season brings with it a unique Dartmouth experience – and believe you me, do the seasons change here. As this winter comes to an end, Spring will dawn – bringing with it beautiful sunny days, a replenished (and snow-absent) Green for sitting on with friends, Green Key, and leaves upon trees! 

A flashback to last Spring...

You see, though one hundred and forty years may lie between us; though we are not afforded the opportunity to speak; though Dartmouth has changed throughout the years: when Hovey says "I SAID in my heart, I am sick of four walls and a ceiling. I have need of the sky. I have business with the grass." I know exactly what he is talking about. I understand him. I am reminded that these grounds that my friends and I walk today, were once traversed by Hovey. And it's not just Hovey either: it's Robert Frost, Dr Seuss, Mindy Kaling, Nelson Rockefeller, Shonda Rhimes, and every single other person who has attended this incredible school over the past 253 years!

This is for me the most powerful and apparent part of the Dartmouth experience – the strength with which it has persisted throughout time. I am not only drawn closer to those who stand beside me by this nexus of intellectual and physical experience, but by those who stand behind – and one day in front – of me. We are all interconnected by an eternal bond. We are all sons and daughters of Dartmouth. As Daniel Webster put it, "It is a small college, and yet there are those who love it!" These words seem almost to form an understatement in the modern age when it comes to the true value that it bestows to all of us. To dear old Dartmouth!