Of course, the collection includes quite a bit by Bryant himself, from his complete poems to a number of anthologies he edited. Across Bryant Road from the library stands the Old Creamy General Store, where, behind the counter, poet and minister Stephen Philbrick often runs the cash register. Philbrick, who has lived and worked in Cummington since 1977, has published his poems in numerous publications, most notably The New Yorker. And he finds that the struggle and beauty of rural life constantly influence his work. It is beautiful enough, and life is hard enough, that you can't help understanding some of those unspoken moral lessons your environment is giving you.
Winter is very hard here.
But after you've been broken on the wheel of the season, all you have to do is look up, and it's beautiful. God gives it to you. The old poet did his first listening at the top of Bryant Road, where two rows of venerable rock maples lead to the Bryant Homestead, the 23-room house he grew up in, and returned to in retirement. The Homestead is open during the summer months on Friday, Saturday and Sunday afternoons from 1 to 5 p.m. Guided tours of the house portray him as the successful man he became, with his Wedgwood china, Louis XV furniture and grease-lamp chandelier obtained on a trip to Turkey. In the study, his straw berry-picking hat sits on his desk, and his bookshelf includes a number of volumes about homeopathy, which he practiced.