Next up for Ashcroft: Poet Laureate?

Former Attorney General John Ashcroft is a top contender to become the next Poet Laureate of the United States, say insiders. But the man who penned “Let the Eagle Soar” faces a stiff challenge from the favored candidate of conservative Christians: Roy Moore, former Alabama chief justice, and the author of “Our American Birthright.”

Some poets balk at idea of appointing a ‘one-poem’ poet

By Deanna Swift

WASHINGTON, DC—When Former Attorney General John Ashcroft bid a fond farewell to public service last month, he was intentionally vague about his plans for the future. Ashcroft has said only that he plans to remain in the Washington D.C. area and will give speeches.

But sources close to Ashcroft say that he has his eye on a very different prize these days: he wants to be the nation’s next top bard, otherwise known as the Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress. Were Ashcroft to succeed in landing the coveted post, the man often criticized for being a Bush administration “lightening rod” would have an opportunity to be an official lightning rod: for the poetic impulse of Americans.

It’s the job of the Poet Laureate, who serves for seven months and receives a $35,000 stipend, to raise the national consciousness to a greater appreciation of the reading and writing of poetry.

How high can the eagle soar?
Ashcroft’s poetry credentials are based largely on the strength of a single verse, a lyric-ode hybrid entitled “Let the Eagle Soar.” Fans of the former attorney general praise his skillful use of masculine syllable endings and strong end rhymes in “Eagle,” placing him in the tradition of Longfellow, Byron, even Francis Scott Key. President Bush sent a signal of his strong support for Ashcroft’s candidacy by making “Eagle” a centerpiece of his swearing-in ceremony in January. Guy Hovis, a Mississippi native and long-time performer on “The Lawrence Welk Show,” performed the lyric ode.

"Let the eagle soar,
Like she’s never soared before.
From rocky coast to golden shore,
Let the mighty eagle soar.
Soar with healing in her wings,
As the land beneath her sings:
'Only god, no other kings.'
This country’s far too young to die.
We’ve still got a lot of climbing to do,
And we can make it if we try.
Built by toils and struggles
God has led us through."

If Ashcroft successfully lands the position of primary poet, he’ll replace Ted Kooser, selected to the post last fall, and the first Poet Laureate from the Great Plains.

From the right: conservative couplets
While Ashcroft might seem like a shoe-in for the job, he’s not the top choice of conservative religious leaders, despite their support for Ashcroft during his tenure as attorney general. The Coalition for Traditional Values, which includes leaders of pro-family groups such as the American Family Organization, the Campaign for Families and the Baptist Leadership Council, has thrown its support behind former Alabama chief Justice Roy Moore, author of the 1998 poem “Our American Birthright.”

Our American Birthright

One nation under God was their cry and declaration,
Upon the law of Nature’s God they built a mighty Nation.
For Unlike Mankind before them who had walked this earthen sod,
These men would never question the Sovereignty of God.

That all men were created was a truth “self-evident,”
To secure the rights God gave us was the role of government.
And if any form of government became destructive of this end,
It was their right, their duty, a new one to begin.

So with a firm reliance on Divine Providence for protection,
They pledged their sacred honor and sought His wise direction.
They lifted an appeal to God for all the world to see,
And declared their independence forever to be free.

I’m glad they’re not with us to see the mess we’re in,
How we’ve given up our righteousness for a life of indulgent sin.
For when abortion isn’t murder and sodomy is deemed a right,
Then evil is now called good and darkness is now called light.

While truth and law were founded on the God of all Creation,
Man now, through law, denies the truth and calls it “separation.”
No longer does man see a need for God when he’s in full control,
For the only truth self-evident is in the latest poll.

But with man as his own master we fail to count the cost,
Our precious freedoms vanish and our liberty is lost.
Children are told they can’t pray and they teach them evolution,
When will they learn the fear of God is the only true solution.

Our schools have become the battleground while all across the land,
Christians shrug their shoulders afraid to take a stand.
And from the grave their voices cry the victory has been won
Just glorify the Father as did His only Son.

When your work on earth is done, and you’ve traveled where we’ve trod,
You’ll leave the land we left to you, One Nation Under God!

“These are both godly men, but we believe that Roy Moore will make the better Poet Laureate,” says Sandy Slokum, executive director of Defend Our Marriages, a pro-family group that advocates defending marriage by adding a ban on adultery to the constitution. While Slokum praises Ashcroft’s “Eagle,” she insists that Moore will do a better job of returning poetry to the family. “He’s working on a beautiful poem called ‘Ring of Gold’ about traditional marriage and how God intended it to be the union of one man and one woman.”

Moore is best known not for his poetry, but for his intriguing position on the separation between church and state. Moore gained notoriety after he refused to remove a massive concrete statue of the Ten Commandments from his office in 2003.

Poetry meets politics
Not everyone is happy about the prospect that either Ashcroft or Moore could soon be the most prominent poet in the country. Some critics point out that this is probably the first time since the Library of Congress established the Poetry and Literature Center in 1936 that a candidate is being considered on the basis of a single poem. “This is outrageous on the face of it,” says Donald Merkin, poet in residence at Eastern Illinois College and the author of Slaughter in the Chicken House: an Elegy. "The role of the Poet Laureate is to act as an ambassador of literary arts. Poets in the community worry Ashcroft will serve as a poetic mouthpiece for the Bush administration."

This is not the first time that the poetry position has been dogged by controversy. Communist William Carlos Williams was appointed in 1952 but never served. Williams’ appointment was revoked with the understanding that he could be re-instated once he completed “loyalty procedures,” but his term ended before he was able to prove that he wasn’t a communist.

Slokum and others complain that position of Poet Laureate has too often been meted out on the basis of political correctness, rather than the righteousness of the poetry. Of the 38 people appointed poet consultant or laureate, eight have been women and two, African-American.

Deanna Swift can be reached at [email protected].

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Comments

[Alabama dude]

Is this shit for real? Roy Moore being considered? WTF!!!! That guy defies the law, made a circus of his own courthouse, expresses the desire for another civil war and has used his influence to keep Jim Crow laws on Alabama's law books. I am an Alabama resident and he is not fit to be the toilet scrubber in the governor's mansion, much less the governor.

[Eagle Ashcroft]

He is not the only famous Ashcroft, in fact he is a has-been Ashcroft as I am the rising star Ashcroft now with several books out and two movie contracts in the wings. In fact everyone is just getting a bit tired of hearing about John Ashcroft and his "let the eagle soar" and it so happens my name is Eagle. I say "let the john sink."

[Stephen Baraban]

Re my comment below, checking again I now see what I saw this morning, one italicized sentence in the "Wake of Gannon-Gate" story: "Ann Coulter Denies Once Being a Liberal Man". So I wasn't hallucinating. But I'm still wondering if there is a legal problem inhibiting people from expatiating on this theme beyond a sentence or two, and keeping on the web what they've already written, despite the fact that Coulter's stock and trade is throwing around the word "traitor".

[Stephen Baraban]

Somebody posted the Ashcroft as Laureate story on the Buffalo Poetics List and people were believing it or at least wondering about it. I did some simple googling and found the Swift Report, which I think is wonderful. I posted to Buffalo Poetics about where the item comes from, but what's weird is that in my post I cited two other satires I remembered seeing in The S.R., "Bush: Gay Marriage Ban Will Halve Deficit" & also something about Ann Coulter & her alleged transformation from malehood. Someone on the Poetics List commented on the second, along the lines of "that explains a lot", but now I can't find the Ann Coulter thing in the S.R. archives, though I thought I saw it there this morning. Was I hallucinating? I also saw the Coulter story a few weeks ago, I'm not sure where, but now there's little trace of it anywhere, except as its referred to in some Amazon.com reviews of Coulter's lastest book. Is that one too legally risky to maintain in print even in cyberspace? Anyway, bless you & keep the laffs coming

[shamanic]

That is some mighty fine satire. I hope.

[mistah charley, ph.d.]

Is there an answer key posted someplace?

[eddie stinson]

The confirmation of either of these two wacko's would confirm something else to 1.2 Billion Muslims.

When dealing with America.......watch your back.