The Marshes of Glynn

A marsh near Jekyll Island

Sidney Lanier sat under an oak tree at this location and was inspired to write the poem The Marshes of Glynn. (The original oak tree died.)

The Marshes of Glynn, as seen from Brunswick, Georgia, USA. The trees are on St. Simons Island, about 4 miles away, and the St. Simons Lighthouse is visible on the right.

The Marshes of Glynn is one of Sidney Lanier's poems featured in Hymns of the Marshes, an unfinished set of lyrical nature poems that describe the open salt marshes of Glynn County in coastal Georgia. The poem describes a marsh in detail, while evoking senses of patience and common decency.

In "The Marshes of Glynn" Lanier gives a religious testament. But he does more than evoke the mystery of God, he speaks to his beloved country, the South, which lay devastated following the American Civil War. He feared the coming onslaught of industrialism. And he sought to comfort his southern brethren by showing them the South was still there: an expansive landscape full of beauty and richness which had always been the source of her strength and sustenance. "Look around you," he is saying. "Take courage from the land which God has given you, which has always nourished you, and which is still there, and be comforted."

See also

• Glynn County, Georgia for information about the setting of The Marshes of Glynn.

External links

• The Marshes of Glynn
• The New Georgia Encyclopedia