![]() ![]() White was remembered as shy and reserved. “Elwyn,” as he was eventually dubbed “Andy,” a nickname given to any male with the last name “White” who happened to be matriculating through Cornell University at the time, in honor of the university’s founder, Andrew White. B.” in his name stands for “Elwyn Brooks.” Thankfully, the universe mercifully decided against calling ol’ E.B. White that I discovered after entering his name into a search engine. “I think people think it's old-fashioned, which is a shame, because it's really, really good.”īefore I talk about “Once More to the Lake,” let me talk about some things about E. “You might overestimate how many of them have read it,” he said. Moreover, the essay’s ubiquitous appearance in dozens 20th century lit anthologies made me presume that undergrads in a creative writing class would surely have encountered it before and might roll their eyes at the idea of being asked to read it again (not that they wouldn’t roll their eyes no matter what I assigned). The arcane diction of its title had always struck me overly wistful, a phrase that might be spoken by a pensive aristocrat in a film from the 1940s: Let us go then, you and I… Once more to the lake. Even though I’d only read it a time or two, it felt like an overly familiar choice-traditional, maybe even a bit stuffy. In fact, if the anthology in question included a section on “Personal Essays,” you could bet that “Once More to the Lake” would appear there. White’s “Once More to the Lake.” Boring, I wrote back, not because I’d read it recently but because I’d remembered having seen it in so many anthologies over the years, especially those that I’d used when teaching freshman composition. During the fishing trip with his son, he states, “there had been no years between the ducking of this dragonfly and the other one – the one that was part of memory.” The memory was so vivid he was confused as to which rod he was holding, his or his son’s.When I asked my friend Kevin Moffett, author of Further Interpretations of Real-Life Events, if he had any suggestions about the kinds of essays I should assign for a Creative Nonfiction class, he suggested E. This time he felt, “the illusion that he was I, and therefore, by simple transposition, that I was my father.” Using rich and alive words the reader could almost feel the confusion of his dual role. He wonders if the, “Tarred road would have found it out.” Upon his arrival he sees some things have changed, but after settling in he, “could tell it was going to be pretty much the same as it has been before.” After the first night he awakens early to, “the smell of the bedroom,” and, “hearing the boy sneak out,” as he had done many times before. He is afraid that his, “holy spot,” has been marred with time. When the essay begins, he is speaking of a memory from his childhood and how his family spent a month during the summer at this, “camp in Maine.” On his trip back to Maine with his son, he wonders how things have changed over the time he has been away. Seeing himself as his father and how things change, he realizes his own mortality is not far away. He feels as if he is living a dual existence. ![]() Now with his son by his side, he is confused by these memories, for he sees himself in his son but also sees himself as his father. With his words he creates a picture from his childhood of pristine colors of the lake, the smells of the woods and cabin, and the way everything looked the same. He tells us his childhood memories of a beloved, “camp in Maine,” returning as a man with his son to share and make new memories. White’s, “Once More to The Lake,” exemplifies this with vivid imagery and attention to detail. As time passes, it can change ones perspective on life. ![]()
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