麻豆视频

Timothy William Stanton, who penned annual Valentine鈥檚 poems to his wife for nearly a half century,听was named the class poet of the second class to graduate from CU Boulder

By the time Timothy William Stanton graduated from the 麻豆视频 in 1883, he鈥檇 obviously made an impression upon the other six students in his class.听

鈥淭imothy was named the class poet of the second class to graduate from CU Boulder,鈥� says his granddaughter Carolyn Wiseman, 83, of Ann Arbor, Mich., who graduated from CU in 1957 with a degree in home economics.听

Stanton actually attended the inaugural day of classes at CU Boulder, Sept. 5, 1877, as a student in a college-prep program held in Old Main. After graduation, he went on to a stellar career in geology, earning a master鈥檚 degree from CU in 1895 and heading the U.S. Geological Survey from 1930-35. Following his death in 1953,听the journal Science called Stanton 鈥渙ne of the outstanding figures in American geology.鈥澨�听

But his scientific career didn鈥檛 interfere with his poetic inclinations, and when he proposed to Grace Mabel Patten on Valentine鈥檚 Day, 1898, he did it in verse, delivered with a bouquet of pink roses:

A Valentine to Grace

鈥淏y Puritans and Protestants

鈥淣o Saint鈥檚 day is held dear

鈥淪ave one, that is kept sacred

鈥淏y Lovers far and near.
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鈥淣o creed nor land confines it,

鈥淏ut wherever hearts are true

鈥淭hat day brings to their patron saint

鈥淭he homage that is due.
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鈥淓ach follower lays his offering

鈥淏efore the shrine that he erects

鈥淚n the form of that fair maiden

鈥淲hom his loving heart selects.鈥�
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鈥淎nd so, my rhymes I offer,

鈥淢y flowers, all that鈥檚 mine 鈥斕�

鈥淢yself, if you鈥檒l accept me,

鈥淭o be your Valentine.鈥�
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She accepted, and for every year of their life together, Stanton composed a Valentine鈥檚 Day poem for her.

鈥淚 have never been able to find a sufficient excuse for breaking the habit that was then formed,鈥� he told his daughter Grace Stanton Fansher鈥擟arolyn Wiseman鈥檚 mother鈥攊n 1941 for a self-published memoir and poetry collection,听Eighty Years of Joy and Gladness (Mingled with Some Work and Sadness.

With just a single gap for missing verses (1910), the family managed to save all Stanton鈥檚 Valentine鈥檚 verses to his wife. A few excerpts:

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The Sweetest Kiss

Feb. 14, 1909
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鈥淲hen Grace first let her lips meet mine

鈥淎nd said she鈥檇 be my Valentine

鈥淚 thought that ne鈥檈r again such bliss

鈥淐ould come to one from any kiss.鈥�
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After Thirty Years

Feb. 14, 1928
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鈥�1898

鈥淎 question, an answer

鈥淎 promise, a kiss

鈥淎 moment of silence

鈥淥f rapture and bliss.
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鈥�1928

鈥淭hat day is far distant

鈥淏ut still it seems near

鈥淔or joys e鈥檈r recurring

鈥淗ave shortened each year.鈥�

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Home

Feb. 14, 1946
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鈥淗ome might be in the distant Rockies

鈥淥r in California by the Sea.

鈥淗ome might be in Montgomery County

鈥淥r in S Street in the D.C.

鈥淗ome might be in a foreign country

鈥淥r in Heaven where some day it will be

鈥淵es, wherever Grace may be staying,听

鈥淭hat is home for me.鈥�

That last was the last of Stanton鈥檚 Valentine鈥檚 love letters to his wife. Grace Stanton died on July 10, 1946.听

鈥淲riting a poem to her every Valentine鈥檚 day, that鈥檚 pretty romantic,鈥� says Wiseman, who with her husband John Wiseman (Pharm鈥�57) established the Stanton Endowed Scholarship in geology in 2017 to honor her grandfather.

A few of Stanton鈥檚 non-Valentine鈥檚 verses are also collected in the memoir, including one about his daughter Grace, Wiseman鈥檚 mother, the first two stanzas of which read:

Miss What-For

鈥溾�橶hat for?鈥� is the question that Baby Grace asks

鈥溌槎故悠� everything under the sun,

鈥淎nd e鈥檈n when reminded of nice little tasks

鈥淭he answer must come before they鈥檙e done.

鈥溾�楾he birds have no arms, Momma dear, such as mine

鈥溾�榃hat for do they differ from me?

鈥溾�榃hat for do you kiss me so much at one time?

鈥溾�業鈥檒l have to give back two or three.鈥欌��

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He was always writing poetry,鈥� says Wiseman, who will celebrate her 64th wedding anniversary in September. 鈥淚鈥檓 sure that鈥檚 why he was the class poet at CU.鈥�