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Recuerdo Staten Island

The (relatively) new Staten Island Ferry Terminal is decorated with excerpts from Edna St. Vincent Millay’s 1922 poem “Recuerdo” (“I remember” or “souvenir”). The views from the terminal and the ferry plus the photo-worthy items on Staten Island are more than enough excuse to take an excursion there on a sunny summer day.

“Recuerdo”
We were very tired, we were very merry—
We had gone back and forth all night on the ferry.
It was bare and bright, and smelled like a stable—
But we looked into a fire, we leaned across a table,
We lay on a hill-top underneath the moon;
And the whistles kept blowing, and the dawn came soon.
 –
We were very tired, we were very merry—
We had gone back and forth all night on the ferry;
And you ate an apple, and I ate a pear,
From a dozen of each we had bought somewhere;
And the sky went wan, and the wind came cold,
And the sun rose dripping, a bucketful of gold.
  –
We were very tired, we were very merry,
We had gone back and forth all night on the ferry.
We hailed, “Good morrow, mother!” to a shawl-covered head,
And bought a morning paper, which neither of us read;
And she wept, “God bless you!” for the apples and pears,
And we gave her all our money but our subway fares.
    – Edna St. Vincent Millay

Inside the Staten Island Ferry Terminal

Inside the terminal, looking toward the Financial District.
Inside the Terminal, looking toward the Statue of Liberty.
Inside the Terminal, looking toward the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges.

The Ferry

Staten Island Ferry.
Ferry pulling out of the Terminal.
Statue of Liberty from the Ferry.

On Staten Island

At the Staten Island Yankees Baseball Field.
Richard Randall sculpture by Augustus Saint Gaudens, at Sailors’ Snug Harbor, which also has wonderful gardens. Yes, any Saint Gaudens is worth a trip.
A southern mansion on Staten Island: who knew? Seguine Mansion.
View toward the harbor from the Seguine Mansion.
Peacock at the Seguine Mansion. The only other peacocks I know wander the grounds of St. John the Divine, and occasionally stalk off to 110th Street.

Sunset from the Ferry

Statue of Liberty from the Staten Island Ferry.
Hmmm, works that way, too.
Manhattan near Battery Park, from the Ferry.

More

  • These pics were taken in 2007 and 2008. For permission to reuse, email DuranteDianne@gmail.com .
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