18 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY january 2-8, 2025 www.montereycountynow.com Even though D’Orge is known for her many paintings, she was a writer first. She became a playwright by the age of 20 and published poems in London before she moved to California. She first revealed herself as a poet in 1913 when she participated in New York’s Armory Show, also known as the International Exhibition of Modern Art, where she read some of her poetry. In 1916, D’Orge released a collection of verse titled Prose Chants, published under the pen name Lena Dalkeith Burton. In 1916, she made her debut as Jeanne D’Orge in the literary magazine The Little Review, publishing literature and art. In 1918, she published in Others: Magazine of the New Verse in New York, associated with modernist poets such as Pulitzer Prize-winner Wallace Stevens and Ezra Pound. From that early period came “The Little Tailor Meditates,” published in 1917: …My idea would be to do away with the starmanufactured ready made garments they never fit like a suit cut to measure… then there’s too much putting on and off too much running in and out like a dog at a fair in this business of birth and death… As the poem shows, Jeanne D’Orge was a modernist too; she dropped rhyme and logic and let herself practice with her own stream of consciousness. During her Carmel years she wrote two more volumes of poetry: Lobos, published in 1928 and recently reprinted by The Cherry, and in 1955, Voice in the Circle. The first was later proclaimed as a milestone in the literary life of Carmel where it was, and still is, hard to find an artist who is not in awe of the energy of Point Lobos. After the publication of Lobos, D’Orge received kind letters from Robinson Jeffers and Edward Weston, who shared her feelings toward the Central Coast’s nature. “She was also writing about a spiritual connection with the land,” says Anne Mitchell, a board member of The Cherry and a poet who writes about Point Lobos. “Her poems also speak about her life as a woman.” D’Orge’s poetry is expressive, autobiographical, practical; she writes about her family, friends, even doctors. As we read in Voice in the Circle: The third circle is my old Scotch nurse Who scolds me because she loves me. Sometimes the lyrical subject seems like the voice of a child, bombarded by everyday experiences. The poet’s subject matter can be anything, from the experience of waking up to a railway train. Hers is an “I poetry,” honest and not ashamed of itself, even simple. In the poems from Lobos, D’Orge speaks in a different, mature and spiritual tone, just like her own human voice. It’s a voice with traces of Scottish accent. The most dominant word in Lobos is the word “rock,” proof that the poet’s existence is experienced through a connection to land. D’Orge never stopped looking at Point Lobos as a surprise, a caprice of nature, a miracle that astonishes whenever one takes a look. Over her long life, D’Orge wrote quite a lot. In addition to poetry, there are reviews, plays and even opera, all contained in The Cherry’s archives. The word “bohemian” comes from the Latin name for the largest historic region of what now is the Czech Republic. Later, the term was used in reference to the Roma people. Transplanted to the U.S., bohemians practiced an unconventional lifestyle, movement, music, dances, devotion to arts—and perhaps sexual promiscuity. There is an iconic photo often used to illustrate Carmel bohemians. On a hill we see poet Robinson Jeffers and his sons, future Mrs. Cherry, her then-husband Alfred Burton and painter William Silva. They are resting on the slope of a hill. The grass is combed by the wind. Their faces are serious, their Victorian clothes striking compared to the landscape around them, a bit like “A Sunday on La Grande Jatte” by post-impressionist painter Georges Seurat or “The Picnic” by Édouard Manet, except no one is naked. There is another, perhaps more famous photo of Carmel bohemians: that of George Sterling, Jack London, Mary Austin and James “Jimmy” Hopper on the beach at Carmel (taken by photographer Arnold Genthe) that reflect almost identical ideals: camaraderie, physical contact with nature and simplicity. D’Orge’s development as a poet was shaped by her Scottish education and exposure to the Scottish Renaissance, but also by English authors, such as The life and times of Jeanne D’Orge, a timeline: 1879 Lena Yates is born in an English village, Donisthorpe 1900 Her first child is born, then adopted out 1906 She marries, becoming Lena Burton, and moves to the U.S. 1907-11 Her three children are born 1916 First poetry publication, under the name Lena Dalkeith Burton; this year she debuts as Jeanne D’Orge 1920 She moves to Carmel 1925 Romance with Carl Cherry; they marry in 1931 1927 She and Carl move to the house now housing the Carl Cherry Center for the Arts 1928 Publication of Lobos 1939 The Cherry Rivet is invented; with time, Carl Cherry gets rich 1946 First exhibits of her paintings 1947 Carl Cherry dies at the age of 46 1948 Carl Cherry Foundation is created 1955 Voice in the Circle is published 1957 D’Orge moves to Carmel Valley 1964 She dies at age 85 1992 The foundation changes its name to Carl Cherry Center for the Arts “Untitled” by Jeanne D’Orge (Mrs. Carl Cherry), is made of oil on masonite and dates back to 1949-1950. Courtesy of Carl Cherry Center for the Arts Jeanne D’Orge at her Carmel Valley home (on Middle Canyon Road) in front of Tantamount Theater. William Butler Yeats, Thomas Hardy and Oscar Wilde. On the contrary, D’Orge’s development as a painter took place only after she moved to Carmel. Alfred Burton and Mrs. Burton took a house on San Carlos Street and lived merrily. That is, until this 46-year-old mother and wife left them for a man in his 20s. Life on San Carlos Street was far from dull. Burton shared his wife’s passion for theater; commedia dell’arte performances were a regular occurrence in the house. Alfred Burton was at some point the vice president of the Forest Theater (both Cherries served on the board); he was also involved
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