Western Star

“Western Star” by Stephen Vincent Benet. This is a narrative poem about the “Spirit and the beginnings of America”, as the short write-up on the paper jacket of the book puts it. The first line of the poem is: “Americans are always moving on”. And after a thirteen-page prelude, the author tells the story of the first beginnings and settling of the New World, beginning with the tragic history of that first settlement in Jamestown, which slowly dwindled down to almost nothing. The author’s...