Sarah Orne Jewett House
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“The Last Wild Thing”
“The Last Wild Thing”

At Home in Nature

“Sometimes I get such a hunted feeling like the last wild thing that is left in the fields.”

– Sarah Orne Jewett (Letter to Annie Fields, Saturday afternoon, 1892). Annie Fields, Letters of Sarah Orne Jewett, 1911. Transcription by Terry Heller.

In a time of rapid growth and industrialization in New England, Jewett mourned the loss of wilderness. She needed solitude occasionally, and found this in the woods, fields, and river of her hometown.

"This afternoon I have been far afield, way over the hill and beyond..."
2:05

A White Heron

“A White Heron,” published in 1886, is one of Jewett’s best-loved stories.

Simple and timeless in its depiction of one girl’s relationship to nature, the narrative appeals to contemporary readers.

"The sharp dry twigs caught her and held her and scratched her like angry talons..."
1:53