The Last Leaf

The Last Leaf written by Oliver Wendell Holems was originally a poem that didn’t really have any impact on my journey to New York until I was introduced to Grove Court. Grove Court is situated amongst the historically rich Greenwich Village. The Village situated South west of Manhattan’s midtown holds a vast amount of history relating to poets and influential artists of New York City. The village was renowned as a hub of beat generation, similar to the Washington Square. It is truly amazing how a single place can inspire so many creative poets of the time, and walking through the village seemed so surreal learning about all the different locations that acted as inspiration for most of these artists. Grove Court was originally low income housing that was built by a man on who worked in a brewery on the Hudson River. Many of the beams used in the construction of the house, situated at the back of the courtyard and other surrounding structures, are older than the building itself as they were brought down from the ships on the Hudson river. Grove Court is also the literary setting for Holmes the last leaf. Seeing Grove Court and hearing about the poem, enabled a connection with the story to sink in. In the poem, the protagonists move into the village into one of the rooms in the court. The German painter lives in the room underneath the protagonists. As they’re staring at the vine that scales the wall of the opposite building, the painter is convinced that once that leaf goes she will die due to the consumption that she has. It was said that Holmes never lived in the court but it is told that his granddaughter moved into the housing in Grove court not long after the poem was written.

Seeing this location enhanced my understanding of the poem has it gave me a visualisation and an insight into Holmes’ mind when writing the poem. It was also interesting to hear some history of the building and its purpose. I learnt that the wealthy loved to be on the street with houses to show and for others to admire. The poor would be out of sight which was very passé for the rich and wealthy.  This is a comparison to today’s society, with the wealthy usually being tucked away for privacy. This tour of Greenwich village came me an insight to many of the texts study but the Last Leaf held a special place in my heart when researching the city and its history. Grove Court gave me a visualisation into the world of the story, making the poem have a deeper connection with me that I will hold onto and think about when visit New York City again. The following Stanza I have written in order to capture my experience of the visit to grove court.