Walt Whitman of the copper etching plate,
John Marin celebrated what he knew.
But Whitman sang the builder and his fate,
While Marin sang his architecture, too.

He loved the building, and the monument,
The bridge, the church, the spire, the city street.
To Europe he -- another Whistler! -- went,
But in America became complete.

Oft to the sky and ocean he returned
To true himself on elemental form.
And from the sanity of things well-learned
He drew the strength to rise above the norm.

His humor, love, enthusiasm, happily soared ---
Our sympathy and understanding his reward.

Copyright (2006) by Arnold Cantor.
All rights reserved.

[Written November 17-19, 1988. Carl Zigrosser was the author of the 1942 book of
essays, The Artist in America: Twenty-Four Close-Ups of Contemprary Printmakers.
Because of my love for prints and printmaking, and because of the author’s personal
knowledge and deep understanding and appreciation of the printmakers of his era,
not to mention the beauty of his writing, I was inspired to attempt to express my
impressions and feelings for the artists written about.]