For Love of a Dog: Blemie and Eugene O'Neill

Eugene O'Neill (October 16, 1888-November 27, 1953) is considered to be one of America's greatest playwrights. He came from a dysfunctional family with an alcoholic father and a morphine addicted mother. Eugene was unable to free himself or his children from that dark legacy. His two sons, Eugene Jr. [May 5, 1910-September 1950] and Shane (October 30, 1919-1977), were addicted to alcohol and heroin, respectively, and both committed suicide.

In June 1943, Eugene famously disowned his only daughter, Oona (May 14, 1925-September 27, 1991), after she defiantly married renowned actor/director/producer/writer Charlie Chaplin (April 16, 1889-December 25, 1977), who at age 54 was 36 years older than Oona as well as being the same age as Eugene. Oona was never able to reconcile with her father. Despite a presumably happy family life with Charlie, she struggled with alcoholism and eventually died of pancreatic cancer.

But, to use the words of William Butler Yeats (June 13, 1865-January 28, 1939) in "Easter, 1916", "a terrible beauty" was born from Eugene O'Neill's lifelong haunting by alcoholism, despair, and a pained childhood. His four Pulitzer Prizes in Drama hold the record, and one of them (for "Long Day's Journey into Night" in 1957) was awarded posthumously four years after his death. He is the only American playwright to be awarded the Nobel Prize (1936).

Eugene's public and private personae might appear to have been inextricably intertwined, being inescapably held in addiction's thrall. And yet an aspect of Eugene O'Neill that softens the savage contours of his personality and his familial relationships is evinced in 'The Last Will and Testament of Silverdene Emblem O'Neill.' This heart-warming elegy was written on December 26, 1940 to comfort Eugene's third wife, Carlotta Monterey O'Neill (December 28, 1888-November 18, 1970), about the recent death of their Dalmatian, Blemie, on December 17th.

Born in England, Blemie was selected from photographs sent to Eugene and Carlotta in Le Plessis, France. Eugene and Carlotta were in central France awaiting the finalization of Eugene's divorce from his second wife, Agnes Boulton [1893-1968]. They paid £75 for Blemie, and he arrived on December 11. According to Carlotta’s diaries, she loved the puppy at first sight while Eugene liked him at first sight.

Blemie was the childless couple's child and was greatly adored. In fact, Eugene liked to read the incomparable poems of William Butler Yeats [June 13, 1865-January 28, 1939] aloud to Blemie. The pampered Blemie slept on a teak bed with a silk cushion. His collar, leash, overcoat, and raincoat were designed by Hermès, the French high-fashion house.

Blemie is buried behind the barn at Tao House, in Danville, California, where Eugene and Carlotta lived from 1937 to 1944. His tombstone is inscribed with his nickname and has the epitaph, 'Sleep in peace, faithful friend.'

Eugene presents the will as having been conveyed telepathically from Blemie to him. Blemie observes that his material legacy is paltry because dogs are neither grasping materialists nor avaricious hoarders. Rather, his legacy is one of love and faith.

Blemie is taunted by his advanced decrepitude and recognizes the need for a final farewell. He is not afraid of death because it is natural and expresses his hope for a blissful after-life. This Paradise is characterized by daylong dillying and dallying, hourly meals, and evening dreamy slumbers warmed by burning logs in millions of fireplaces. Or not. At the least Blemie will find peace and the long rest of eternal sleep in this beloved earth.

Having overheard Carlotta's insistence upon not replacing him after death with another dog, Blemie chides her. It would not be a fitting memorial to forsake all dogs. Rather, Blemie would be honored to know that a dog, even Blemie's successor, is an integral, irreplaceable part of their household.

Blemie's final request is that during graveside visits Eugene and Carlotta remember their mutual love for one another. Blemie promises to hear those words and that his tail will wag in gratitude.

This elegy presents a touchingly personal side of this complex, towering American playwright. The shades of recent grief are eloquently described. It is impressive that Eugene was concerned about his wife's grief and that he obviously shared the feeling of great loss. While relationships' dark sides were explored to perfection in his plays, Eugene smoothly and vividly enlivens the devoted love and unabated happiness that characterize a dog's take on family life.

This elegy stands on its own as a poignant but reassuring statement of the value of unconditional love in our lives and of our need for that boundless love which pets are so willing to give to us. What enhances this particular gift of language, after we reminisce and agree with the perfectly evoked sentiments, is that it was so unexpectedly penned by such a giant of modern American literature.

A recent edition of this inspiring elegy, The Last Will and Testament of an Extremely Distinguished Dog, was edited and illustrated by quiltmaker Adrienne Yorinks (New York: Henry Holt, 1999). Twenty-five original hand-stitched quilt squares frame color photo transfers of border collies as well as of Blemie's tombstone.

SOURCES CONSULTED

Bogard, Travis. The Unknown O'Neill: Unpublished or Unfamiliar Writings of Eugene O'Neill. New Haven: Yale, 1988. Google Books. http://books.google.com

Electronic Eugene O'Neill Archive Website: http://www.eoneill.com/

Eugene O'Neill Foundation/Tao House Website: http://www.eugeneoneill.org/

Garvey, Sheila Hickey. "O'Neill's Bridge." The Eugene O'Neill Review, volume 27, 2005. http://www.eoneill.com/library/review/27/27i.htm

National Park Service: Tao House Website: http://www.nps.gov/euon/index.htm

"The Last Will and Testament of Silverdene Emblem O'Neill." Electronic Eugene O'Neill Archive. http://www.eoneill.com/texts/blemie/contents.htm

Yorinks, Adrienne. The Last Will and Testament of an Extremely Distinguished Dog. New York: Henry Holt, 1999.

Adrienne Yorinks' Website: http://www.adrienneyorinks.com/

Copyright April 19, 2010 by Stessily