The Blasted Heath (was: TSOU -- The Colour Out of Space)
Donovan Loucks
There were three messages regarding the "blasted heath" in Maine posted by
Derrick Hussey, David Goudsward, and Daniel Harms, but my news server
never received them. I managed to find them via DejaNews.
First, Derrick Hussey <hus...@routledge.com> wrote:
No such luck. The envelope does not survive, but earlier in the same
letter Lovecraft writes:
I'm stuck near the end of my own current attempt -- "The Shadow Out
of Time" -- since I can't get the unharassed leisure I need.
which puts it considerably after "The Colour Out of Space." However,
it is possible that Lovecraft heard of "Maine's blasted heath" prior to
writing "Colour" and was only mentioning it years later to CAS.
Point well taken. I have to admit that I hadn't yet read the entire
letter, but when you e-mailed me the transcription the phrase "blasted
heath" just seemed to jump at me. It seems to me that I've read the
phrase "blasted heath" somewhere else in Lovecraft's letters, but it may
also have been much later than his writing "The Colour Out of Space". As
such, perhaps these are just cases of Lovecraft applying his own term to
places he heard about later, rather than him borrowing the term from one
of those very places.
Then, David Goudsward <goud...@epix.net> wrote:
What about the Desert of Maine in Freeport? A desert encroaching on a
pine forest in the middle of Maine?
http://www.sourcemaine.com/TravelMaine/freedesr.html
This is definitely an intriguing spot, but it sounds more like _beach_
encroaching on a wooded area, and not an inland place where nothing grows.
But, who knows? It's mighty hard to say without more information. All
the same, thanks for point out the TravelMaine pages to me! They'll be a
great resource for my next trip when I plan to go to Portland.
Lastly, Daniel Harms <har...@ctrvax.vanderbilt.edu>
(crossposted to rec.travel.usa-canada -- perhaps someone there can help
us out in finding out where this site is)
Hmmm. Interesting. The information I got indicates that Freeport is
in the southeast corner of the state (no atlas here, sorry), not far
from Kittery, the only city in Maine which Lovecraft seems to have
visited at this point. It's possible one of his correspondents (F. B.
Long?) told him about it, or that he heard a story about it in Kittery.
Does anyone else know anything about this?
Freeport is north of Portland about 15 miles, and with a name like
Free_port_ is almost certainly right on the coastline. As I mentioned
above, this spot sounds as if it is a farm, perhaps just a few hundred
yards inland, upon which the nearby beach has encroached, and not a remote
place where nothing grows.
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| Donovan K. Loucks Phoenix, Arizona dlo...@primenet.com |
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