York in American History: Whittier’s poem ‘Maude Muller’s Spring’

Notes: Few passers-by notice a granite marker on Cider Hill Road (Route 91) that identifies the spot where John Greenleaf Whittier in 1854 encountered a young farm girl in bare feet raking hay, which meeting inspired him to compose a poem allowing his imagination run wild, immortalized in “Maude Muller’s Spring.” 

“Alas for maiden, alas for Judge/For rich repiner and household drudge.” These lines of verse, one of the 55 couplets of John Greenleaf Whittier's poem "Maud Muller's Spring," convey the often-repeated underlying message: For of all sad words of tongue and pen/ The saddest are these: "It might have been." It was to become one of his most famous poems, and as is well known referred to a site within York.

The story is of an encounter between an anonymous figure, the Judge, and a young woman, a farm girl, Maud Muller. On a hot summer day, he briefly halted his horse ride, to request from her a drink of water, and then rode away. But both individuals were forever changed by the experience, and for decades into the future, trapped in unsatisfactory marriages determined by the limitations of social class and family expectations, they would often reminisce regretfully on the moment they had met each other.

"Maud Muller hits me very hard," the New York City lawyer and diarist George Templeton Strong acknowledged. "It's a sign of real power to make familiar and rather commonplace names and associations effective." Composed by Whittier in the autumn of 1854, and first published on December 28, in the Washington D.C. based anti-slavery publication, The National Era, famed for the serialization of Harriet Beecher Stowe's “Uncle Tom's Cabin” from June 1851 to April 1852, the poem enjoyed instant success.

"The term 'chimney lug,'” the poet explained to the Era's editor Gamaliel Bailey, "which occurs in this poem refers to the old custom of New England of hanging a pole with hooks attached to it down the chimney, to hang pots and kettles on." This was in reference to one of the final couplets, And for him who sat by the chimney lug/Dozing and grumbling o'er pipe and mug. He was concerned the printers wouldn't understand the meaning.

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Whittier had begun regular contributions to the Era in 1847, and had provided essays, critical reviews as well as poems. The year 1854 was especially momentous because of the passage of the provocative Kansas-Nebraska Act in May, and the subsequent rapid emergence of the Republican Party soon afterwards. Among the poems he produced during that year was “The Haschish,” which compared the overpowering effects of the hallucinogenic plant, with the equally powerful Southern cotton plant and the national crisis over Negro slavery.

He was quite debilitated as the year began, and informed a friend his delay in replying to her could be attributed to "the lassitude and disquiet of illness, which often for weeks together makes writing of any kind painful and difficult." In his letters, he made regular use of the archaic pronouns thee, thou, and thy. Thus, in February 1854 a letter began: "I thank thee from my heart for thy very kind letter..."

Whittier did most of his writing in a favorite place in his Amesbury homestead he referred to as the Garden Room, and perhaps it was there he composed this poem and others. He was, as mentioned, often ill, and remained close to his home much of the time, with occasional forays to help advance the causes he regarded as being most important. He was 47 years of age when “Maud Muller” was written and had already partaken in a varied career as a shoemaker, schoolteacher, political activist, legislator, and journalist.

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Born in December of 1807 in the family's ancestral Haverhill, Massachusetts residence, his public literary life was initiated by his sister Mary, who submitted one of his earliest efforts to the Newburyport newspaper Free Press then managed by William Lloyd Garrison. The first poem, "The Exile's Departure," was followed by "The Deity" in early June 1826, and then for the next two and a half months, a new submission each week.

Impressed with his apparent talent, Garrison decided to meet him in person, and ventured to the family farm. While he encouraged Whittier to pursue further education and develop his skills, he was soon to realize from a brief exchange with the poet's father, this was unlikely. "Sir," he was informed bluntly by the parent, "poetry will not give him bread."

Mary was the older sister. Elizabeth, who was 8 years younger than Whittier, was the sister who, by tradition, accompanied him on the trip to York that was to inspire “Maud Muller.” He was very close to her, and she was often his companion during his travels. She shared with him a concern for anti-slavery and was an active member in the different organizations dedicated to the cause.

Incidents of the era of the Indian wars that involved York were referenced by Whittier in an earlier poem "Mogg Megone," written in 1835, an important period in his life, when the move to Amesbury occurred, as well as full commitment to abolitionism. and election as a Whig candidate to the Massachusetts legislature. He served only one term and championed an effort to end the state's death penalty.

It was not the only instance of his being a candidate, or of promoting eligible men, or taking part in campaigns prior to the Civil War. He even wrote campaign songs for the first Republican presidential campaign in 1856 and was chosen to be a member of the Electoral College for Abraham Lincoln in the autumn of 1860.

Though they were both Quakers committed to social reforms, the friendship with Garrison was strained by the very different attitudes the two men held over the direction that was being taken to end slavery. Whittier had adopted a political strategy to address the issue that the other man had repudiated. Garrison never became involved in contemporary party politics and was without any aspirations for office.

James Kences is the town historian for the town of York. 

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: York in American History: Whittier’s poem ‘Maude Muller’s Spring’