Audiobook · read by volunteers
Barbara Frietchie
John Greenleaf Whittier (1807–1892)
Read by Kristin Hughes (1974-2021), Kymm Zuckert, Fox in the Stars, Westwinds12 · 4 chapters · 13 min
About the book
It is September 1862, and Confederate troops are marching through the town of Frederick, Maryland. On the street, an old woman named Barbara Frietchie leans out of her window and holds up a flag. What happens next, as the commander passes by, is the heart of this famous poem.
John Greenleaf Whittier’s Barbara Frietchie was the weekly poem for Flag Day 2006 at LibriVox. The story it tells, of one old woman’s act of patriotism during a Confederate advance, is largely legend, but it has inspired generations of readers. It is a short, rhythmic ballad that was once recited in American schools, and it is easy to hear why. In four brief sections and about twelve minutes, this recording offers a stirring piece of nineteenth-century verse, read by several volunteers.
Introduction
John Greenleaf Whittier (1807–1892) was an American poet and abolitionist from Massachusetts, a Quaker who used his verse to argue against slavery and later wrote gentle poems about New England life. His poem Barbara Frietchie, written during the Civil War, was one of his most popular works during and after the Civil War.
The poem tells of an old woman who defies the Confederate troops marching through her town by displaying the Union flag. Whittier presents it as a story of courage and of the reaction of the opposing commander, and the lines were widely memorised and recited. The historical basis is thin. There was a real Barbara Fritchie in Frederick, Maryland, but historians have long doubted that the incident happened as described, and the story is generally regarded as a legend. Even so, the poem has remained a part of American cultural memory and a good example of how a ballad can turn an incident into a symbol.
The recording is a multi-version collection, which means that the same poem is read by several volunteers. This one comprises four versions, and the total running time is about twelve minutes. It was the weekly poem for Flag Day in 2006. Hearing the poem more than once is useful, since each reader brings out a different shade of the rhythm and feeling.
Why listen today? Because it is a short and vivid piece, and because it is a chance to hear a poem that was once known by heart by thousands of schoolchildren. It also raises an interesting question about the difference between history and legend, and about the way patriotic stories are made.
Public domain
John Greenleaf Whittier died in 1892: the work is in the public domain in Switzerland, more than 70 years after the author’s death.
The LibriVox volunteers dedicated this recording to the public domain.
Sources : LibriVox page · Files at the Internet Archive · Original text