Stephen Vincent Benét speaks

[mme_hardy]

Yes, Dan'l Webster's dead — or, at least, they buried him. But every time there's a thunderstorm around Marshfield, they say you can hear his rolling voice in the hollows of the sky. And they say that if you go to his grave and speak loud and clear, "Dan'l Webster — Dan'l Webster!" the ground'll begin to shiver and the trees begin to shake. And after a while you'll hear a deep voice saying, "Neighbor, how stands the Union?" Then you better answer the Union stands as she stood, rock-bottomed and copper-sheathed, one and indivisible, or he's liable to rear right out of the ground. At least, that's what I was told when I was a youngster.

Comments

[clanwilliam]

I love that story. I first read it when I had no idea who Daniel Webster was, but Jabez Stone walked away with his soul his own.

I think Mr Webster would have approved of the three High Court judges in the UK last week.

[movingfinger]

This prompted me to look at Wikipedia, where I learned that this was made into a movie (AGAIN) in 2001, with Anthony Hopkins as Daniel Webster, Alec Baldwin as Jabez Stone, and Jennifer Love Hewitt as the Devil! Contemporary-fied, of course, set in NY publishing.

Now wondering who would portray a good Daniel Webster these days.