Simple Gifts 2.0

Curious to see if AI could come up with a song/poem that combines some of the lyrics in "Simple Gifts" with my feelings about the place my Shaker ancestors called home, I asked my ChatGPT assistant to provide three verses using words and phrases I provided. After a bit of finessing, here is the end result:

On the river where golden light does play,

Waters gently weave as daylight fades away,

We walk with grace at the golden hour's sway,

Amid oaks and hickories in verdant array.

 

When true simplicity is gained,

No shame in bending, no need for fame,

As we turn, turn, our spirits alight,

‘Til by turning, turning, we find the light.

 

In earnest embrace, we search to find the key,

'Tis the gift to be simple, 'tis the gift to be free,

Where burdens fade and worries take flight,

With the gift of simplicity, our hearts can unite.

 

In the place just right, our dreams ignite,

'Tis in the valley of love and delight,

As we turn, turn, our spirits alight,

‘Til by turning, turning, we come round right.

Canterbury Tales

Henry Clay Blinn, born 1842, was just age 14 years old when he made the decision to join the Shakers. Blinn had learned about a Shaker man who was visiting near his home in Providence, Rhode Island and felt compelled to meet the man and find out about his lifestyle. 

After a meeting between Henry, his mother, and the stranger, and upon learning about the Shaker community at Canterbury, New Hampshire, Blinn made the decision that would change his life forever. 

Accompanied by his new Shaker friend, Blinn began the journey that would take him over 130 miles by train, stagecoach, and wagon to the village at Canterbury in Merrimack County. 

He described the journey in his autobiography, published after his death in 1905:

"On the day appointed for my departure from the city, I was hurrying at an early hour to the railroad station at India Point. It was the journey of a young Pilgrim, after many hurried farewells to dear friends, some of whom protested against the wild scheme of going amoung the mountains of New Hampshire to find a home, and to be entrusted to the care of an entire stranger, while others dismissed the case with and anxious hope for the better. 

"I was soon, however, on my way to Boston in company with the Shaker, Nathan Willard, as he had agreed to take charge of me. At Boston we took the cars for Lowell, the terminus of the railroad at that date, going north. From Lowell, we rode to Concord, N.H., in a stage, and then hired a private conveyance to Shaker Village. Our trip from Concord was over the pine plains, through Loudon Village and over Beck's Hill. On reaching this last elevated spot, the whole of the Church Family was presented to view, and the presentation was a beautiful picture on the mind. At that date, the white and light yellow houses with bright red roofs, heightened the beauty of the village very much and to my youthful mind, after a long and tedious journey, it seemed to be the prettiest place I had ever seen."

Photo from the Library of Congress collection:

Also from the LOC collection: Diagram of the south part of Shaker Village, Canterbury, NH