Footprints (poem)
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Footprints, also known as Footprints in the Sand, is a allegorical text written in prose. There are three versions all with the same title but different authors. There are multiple recensions.
Content
The text describes a dream, in which the person is walking on a beach with God (in some versions, specifically identified as Jesus). They leave two sets of footprints in the sand behind them. Looking back, the tracks are stated to represent various stages of this person's life. At some points the two trails dwindle to one, especially at the lowest and most hopeless moments of the character's life. When the person questions God about this, believing that God must have abandoned his follower during those times, God gives the explanation: 'During your times of trial and suffering, when you see only one set of footprints, it was then that I carried you'.
Origins
June Hadden Hobbs proposes that its origins lie in Mary B. C. Slade's 1871 hymn "Footsteps of Jesus" as "almost surely the source of the notion that Jesus' footprints have narrative significance that influences the way believers conduct their life stories ... it allows Jesus and a believer to inhabit the same space at the same time. [...] Jesus travels the path of the believer, instead of the other way round". [1]
Rachel Aviv[2] suggests that the source of this poem is the opening paragraph of Charles Haddon Spurgeon's 1880 sermon The Education of the Sons of God[3]
WERE you ever in a new trouble, one which was so strange that you felt that a similar trial had never happened to
you and, moreover, you dreamt that such a temptation had never assailed anybody else? I should not wonder if that was the thought of your troubled heart. And did you ever walk out upon that lonely desert island upon which you were wrecked and say, “I am alone—alone—ALONE—nobody was ever here before me”? And did you suddenly pull up short as you noticed, in the sand, the footprints of a man? I remember right well passing through that experience—and when I looked, lo, it was not merely the footprints of a man that I saw, but I thought I knew whose feet had left those imprints. They were the marks of One who had been crucified, for there was the print of the nails. So I thought to myself, “If He has been here, it is no longer a desert island. As His blessed feet once trod this wilderness-way, it blossoms now
like the rose and it becomes to my troubled spirit as a very garden of the Lord!”
Authorship
Several writers have claimed authorship of this poem. In chronological order, these claims are as follows:
Ella H. Scharring-Hausen (1894-1985)
Allegedly wrote her Footprints in the Sand poem on June 6, 1922. Ella H. Scharring-Hausen wrote her version of Footprints poem while a resident of Hopewell, New Jersey. She is register with the United States Copyright Office. Her public works are available in the Anthology of Poetry written by Robert Louis Scharring-Hausen, Carolyn Joyce Carty, Ella H. Scharring-Hausen.[4]
Mary Stevenson (1922-1999)
Allegedly wrote her poem, entitled And You Carried Me in 1936.[5]
A copy of this version, that allegedly has been forensically dated to 1940 exists. The document itself contains a 1939 date.[citation needed]
This poem has a U.S. Copyright Registration number of TXu000179585 / 1984-12-10.[6] This poem also has a U.S. Copyright Registration number of TXu000668838 / 1995-01-09.[7]
The phrase Footprints in the Sand was part of a trademark used to merchandise this claimant's version[8]
Floyd Keeton (1921- )
Allegedly wrote his poem on Omaha Beach 6 June 1944.
A copy of this version, purporting to date to 1944 exists. This version is included Floyd Keeton Poetry Anthology # 1.
U.S. Copyright Office Registration Number is TXu001027131 / 2001-03-29.[9]
Burrell Webb
Allegedly wrote his poem in 1958. His copyright was not registered with the U.S. Copyright Office.[2]
Carolyn Joyce Carty (1957-)
Allegedly wrote her Footprints poem during April Passion Week, 1963 in Hopewell, New Jersey.
This version is included in Footprints in the Sand Literary Classic[10].
This poem has a U.S. Copyright Office Registration Number of TXu000234383 / 1986-02-24.[11]
Margaret Fishback Powers (1939-)
Allegedly wrote I Had a Dream in In Kingston, Ontario on Canadian Thanksgiving weekend in 1964.[12]
Her version was first copyrighted in the collection From Heart to Heart, Poems and Poetry.[13] US copyright registration number is TX0002145462 / 1987-05-11.[13]
She should not be confused with the once-popular American poet Margaret Fishback Antolini (March 10, 1900 – September 25, 1985).
Ademar de Barros (1901-1969)
Air France stated on its website that Brazilian politician Ademar de Barros wrote "Footprints in the Sand" (Template:Lang-pt). The poem was used in the memorial service for Air France Flight 447 on 3 June 2009.[14]
Lawsuit about authorship
| Zangare v Powers, Carty | |
|---|---|
| Court | Eastern District of New York, Suffolk County |
| Full case name | Basil Zangare v Margaret Fishback Powers, Carolyn Joyce Carty et al. |
| Decided | 02-03-2009 |
| Citation | 2:2008cv01923 |
| Court membership | |
| Judges sitting | Judge Sandra J. Feuerstein Magistrate Judge William D. Wall |
| Case opinions | |
| JUDGMENT in favor of Basil Zangare against Carolyn Joyce Carty and PERMANENT INJUNCTION. | |
On 12 May 2008, Basil Zangare, the son of Mary Stevenson, filed a lawsuit in US Federal Court (Eastern District of New York) against Margaret Fishback Powers and Carolyn Joyce Carty alleging copyright infringement.[15] This case resulted in a default judgement against Carolyn Joyce Carty. The case against Margaret Fishback Powers was dismissed 2 December 2008.
Influence
A song based on the poem, called "Footprints in the Sand", was written by Per Magnusson, David Kreuger, Richard Page and Simon Cowell and recorded by Leona Lewis.[16]
H2O: Footprints in the Sand, a Japanese adult visual novel by Makura, uses the poem as its main theme.
References
- ^ I sing for I cannot be silent: the Feminization of American Hymnody, 1870-1920, June Hadden Hobbs, p123
- ^ a b Aviv, Rachel. "Enter Sandman: Who wrote footprints?". Poetry Foundation. Retrieved 2008-08-05.
- ^ Spurgeon, Charles Haddon (10 June 1880). The Education of the Sons of God (PDF). Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ Footprints in the Sand Anthology of Poetry written by Robert Louis Scharring-Hausen, Carolyn Joyce Carty, Ella H. Scharring-Hausen
- ^ Giorgio, Gail (1995). Footprints in the Sand - The Life Story of Mary Stevenson, Author of the Immortal Poem. Carson City, NV: Gold Leaf Press. ISBN 1882723120.
- ^ "United States Copyright Office Public Catalog". United States Copyright Office. Retrieved 2008-08-20.
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ "United States Copyright Office Public Catalog". United States Copyright Office. Retrieved 2008-08-20.
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ "Canadian Trade Mark Data". Canadian Intellectual Property Office. Retrieved 2008-08-16.
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ "United States Copyright Office Public Catalog". United States Copyright Office. Retrieved 2008-08-20.
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ {{cite book | first = Carolyn Joyce | last = Carty | authorlink = | title = Footprints in the Sand | publisher = Literary Classics | date = | location = | pages = | url = | doi = | id = | isbn = 1418448524 http://www.amazon.com/Footprints-in-the-Sand/dp/B001QTVWKG/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=digital-text&qid=1255673465&sr=1-4
- ^ "United States Copyright Office Public Catalog". United States Copyright Office. Retrieved 2008-08-20.
- ^ Powers, Margaret Fishback (1992). Footprints: The Story Behind the Poem That Inspired Millions. Toronto: HarperCollins. p. 106 pages. ISBN 0002554003.
- ^ a b Powers, Margaret Fishback (1986). From Heart to Heart. Poems and Poetry. Hamilton, Bermuda: Self Published.
- ^ "Archbishop Of Paris Press Release". Air France. 2009-06-03. Retrieved 2009-06-03.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=and|date=(help) - ^ Stuever, Hank (1 June 2008), "Search to Divine Authorship Leads 'Footprints' to Court", The Washington Post
- ^ "Leona to release Sport Relief song". Virgin Media. 2008-01-31. Retrieved 2008-02-01.
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