Notes on Hawthorne's "The Great Stone Face"

The Old Man of the Mountain, also known as "The Great Stone Face," in Hawthorne, fell to earth in May, 2003. Few seem to have recalled Hawthorne's tale, and the feelings of wisdom, patience, and serenity he attributed to the Old Man.

Plans are afoot to restore him to his mountainside. I hope they go forward, for his fall seems like a rebuke from Nature itself, as if his sorrow over the state of humanity, which borrowed his image, were so great that his own existence became insupportable. For more information, visit franconianotchstatepark.com/oldman