Literature

Bermuda has long been a haven for writers. It has figured in many works of literature, beginning with Shakespeare's The Tempest. Shakespeare never visited the island himself but was inspired to set his play here by accounts he had read or heard of the island.

The Irish poet Thomas Moore (1779-1852), who visited Bermuda for several months in 1804, was moved by its beauty to write:

Oh! could you view the scenery dear That now beneath my window lies.

Moore left more memories -- literary and romantic -- than any other writer who came to Bermuda. He once stayed at Hill Crest Guest House (now Aunt Nea's Inn at Hillcrest) in St. George's and soon became enamored of Nea Tucker, the adolescent bride of one of the most prominent men in town. "Sweet Nea! Let us roam no more," he once wrote of his beloved.

It's said that the lovesick poet would gaze for hours upon Nea's veranda, hoping that she'd appear. One day a jealous Mr. Tucker could tolerate this no more and banished the poet from his property. Moore was chased down a street that now bears the name Nea's Alley -- to commemorate his unrequited romance.

Today, one of the most popular restaurants in Bermuda is Tom Moore's Tavern. The building was once the home of Samuel Trott, who constructed it in the 17th century. Unlike Mr. Tucker, the descendants of Samuel Trott befriended Moore, who often visited the house. Moore immortalized the calabash tree on the Trott estate in his writing; he liked to sit under it and write his verse there.

Following in Moore's footsteps, many famous writers visited Bermuda in later years. None, however, have left their mark on the island like Tom Moore.

For Americans, it was Mark Twain who helped make Bermuda a popular tourist destination. He published his impressions in the Atlantic Monthly in 1877 through 1878, and in his first book, The Innocents Abroad. He became so enchanted by the island that, as he wrote many years later to a correspondent, he would happily choose it over heaven.

After Twain, Eugene O'Neill came to Bermuda in 1924, and returned several more times, at least through 1927. While here, he worked on The Great God Brown, Lazarus Laughed, and Strange Interlude. O'Neill was convinced that cold weather adversely affected his ability to write. He thought that Bermuda would "cure" him of alcoholism. At first, O'Neill and his family rented cottages on what is now Coral Beach Club property. Later, O'Neill bought the house "Spithead," in Warwick. In 1927, however, his marriage ended, and O'Neill left his family -- and Bermuda.

During the 1930s, several eminent writers made their way to Bermuda, in hopes of finding idyllic surroundings and perhaps a little inspiration: Sinclair Lewis, who spent all his time cycling around "this gorgeous island"; Hervey Allen, who wrote Anthony Adverse, his best-selling novel, at Felicity Hall in Somerset; and James Ramsey Ullman, who wrote The White Tower on the island. James Thurber also made several visits to Bermuda during this time.

In 1956, Noel Coward came with his longtime companion, Graham Payn, to escape "the monstrously unjust tax situation in England." He was not, he said, "really mad about the place," yet he purchased "Spithead" in Warwick (O'Neill's former home) and stayed some 2 years, working on London Mornings, his only ballet, and the musical Sail Away. "Spithead" is now privately owned.

Other well-known authors who visited Bermuda over the years include Rudyard Kipling, C. S. Forester, Hugh Walpole, Edna Ferber, Anita Loos, John O'Hara, E. B. White, and Philip Wylie.

Bermuda's own writers include William S. Zuill -- a former director of the Bermuda National Trust who wrote The Story of Bermuda and Her People, an excellent historical account -- and Nellie Musson, Frank Manning, Eva Hodgson, and Dale Butler, who have written about the lives of African Bermudians.