John Earl Harvey: Musical mystical poet of the Demerara River
JOHN EARL Harvey was a qualified music teacher and ‘humanologist’ who expressed his ideas on self-development and right human relations through his copious writings of poetry and prose.  He lived the last 35 years of his life in Guyana, a country he considered to be a sacred land.
Born on August 18, 1929 in Grenville, Grenada, the great-grandson of slaves, Harvey and his family migrated to Trinidad around 1936. The poor circumstances of his family meant that he received no formal secondary education, but  he independently undertook the necessary study and discipline so that he could obtain a Teacher’s Diploma in Trinidad  (1955),  the Licentiate of the Trinity College of Music in London (1957),  followed by a Doctorate in Humanology.
From his early years, however, he became troubled by the larger problems of the human condition, and felt a deep-seated need to address this issue.
By 1961, he had synthesized his ideas in the conclusions outlined in his first manuscript entitled, ‘SELFISHNESS: KEY TO HUMAN HAPPINESS’. Here, he proposed that, contrary to popular belief, if Man were truly selfish, he would look after his highest self (his soul self), and therefore he and  humanity  could  achieve their highest potential and be truly happy.
He explained that this ‘philosophy of selfishness’ was “a practical comprehensive  basis  for Individual Fulfillment and the Harmonious Intercourse of Mankind.”
This manuscript was followed in 1963-64 by  ‘THE DIVINE JOURNEY’, a  collection of over 140 poems  which expressed his metaphysical  leanings, and which he hoped  would serve  “as leaven to the less developed  and more  lethargic masses, thus conducing to the gradual upliftment of the human race.” Or ‘To give a Lift to all Aspiring Souls’ as stated in the title of one of the poems.
Self development was the recurrent theme in his writings; a goal he beseeched all to seek after in life’s journey, to the betterment of Mankind:

ABOUT MY JOURNEY
I tell of a journey strange and marvellous
I tell of a journey utterly unlike the rest
Those so known by mortal man
I tell of a journey of travail and pain
Embouching in time, into glorious bliss.

Things are dry and unfavourable to me
Only when I descend from my Inner Throne.

At times he felt that these were not the easiest ideas to understand, as expressed in the following poem from the collection, Me – My POETRY:

What!
Do I hear you complain that you
Do not understand me –
My Poetry!

That it is vague and too abstruse!
That it is obscure and beyond you!
That it is not practical and down to earth!

Do you?
I do not!

John Harvey was a voracious reader, influenced by writers such as Yeats, Whitman, Ouspensky,  and Carpenter, resulting in his being  given the nickname, ‘Prof’  at  an early age  by  his  fellow students and tutors alike. But he found that in nature itself lay so many treasures, expressed in one of his more simple poems,  ‘I TOOK A BOOK TO THE WOOD TO READ’:
I took a book to the wood to read
I thought that would be jolly.
But as mine eyes beheld the mead.
I soon found out my folly.
For there before me in all its glory
Was Nature – body of All!
And I, for this so ever thirsty
Put by the book and sent forth my call.
Then, as though to prove and guide me further
Into my Being streamed waves of bliss,
And I, who came, meagre food from a book to gather,
To the heights was transported into Godfulness!

With a heart of joy I wend my way
Keeping my book for another day.

Both Selfishness and The Divine Journey remain as unpublished manuscripts. He did, however, publish a volume of  folk songs entitled ‘Buddy Lindo’ that was  compiled and collected  during his years as a musicologist in Trinidad. It was published by Oxford University Press in 1974, and used in schools in England, where he went to teach in 1958. The editorial note states that ‘Buddy Lindo’ was “possibly the first from the West Indies in which  the collectors, the compiler and the editor  are themselves West Indians.”
This book heralded the increasing emphasis he was to place on music in his life – indeed, he felt it was the key to self development, and sought to make man aware of his musical nature and the necessity  for  its activation.
In 1976, he migrated — or was ‘drawn’, as he put it — to Guyana,  and settled on the Demerara River, finding it a place where he could  further his research on  right human relations and self development. The words of his song, ‘My People’ seemed  appropriate  for  Guyana’s multi- ethnic  society.

MY PEOPLE

You’ve come from distant China’s shore
You are my people
From northern Iceland’s shore you’ve come
You are my people
No matter place of birth or home, no matter  race or creed,
A member of the human race
You are my people

His journey in Guyana took him through farming on the Soesdyke / Linden highway to teaching at the Silver Hill Primary School, which he helped found, and later a schooling centre at Tenaboo, on the Demerara River. He also spent three years as ‘House Father’ or Warden at President’s College (1986 – 1989), finally retiring fully to his home at Tenaboo on the Demerara River.
During his years in Guyana, he became intensely focused on developing practical methods, whereby anyone could place themselves on the path of right living. He was a consummate teacher,  but the basis of his method was  through the use of Tonic Solfa — the musical scale Doh Ray Mi Fa So La Ti Doh — which he felt any man, woman  or child  could use for their  betterment. Students at all the schools he served at knew him for his approach to Solfa.  This was his way of  simplifying difficult problems. Indeed, in 1982, he took the children of Silver Hill Primary School to GUYFESTA where, backstage,  he found  that some children had shoes, some had  slippers, and some had nothing and were “feeling bad.” He simply instructed that all performers, including  himself,  should go on stage barefoot. And so they did, and were asked for encores   for their performance of  two folk songs in Solfa.
His final poem, written  this year  in commemoration  of Guyana’s  independence celebrations,   seems to  bring together  his philosophy and  musicality.

LET GOD BE PRAISED

Let God be praised
The Nation raised
The Poet – worthy the name
Must know that  for which he came.
On this auspicious day in May.
I come to  sqwizzzle the Nation
And spurt it, spurt it on its way
Spiraling it on its Divine Journey.

He showed he was well aware of the purpose of his life in his short poem THE OPPORTUNITY
This  present  stage and state of life  called Life
What a glorious opportunity
To prepare, to grow, to round ourselves
For the  stage and  state of life  called Death

John Earl Harvey passed on to the stage  and state of life  called death  on August 1, 2011, leaving  behind a legacy of  poetry, prose  and music, together  with a philosophy  of   living  that is both inspiring  and  uplifting. (Material supplied by the Harvey family.)


WHAT’S HAPPENING:
·    THE JOURNEY: An Evening of Literature (Part XIII) is coming your way soon.
·    Let’s welcome another new book: ‘Teachers and Students’, a book of short-stories by Madan M. Gopal; and another new journal: ‘Cleo’, a publication of the Guyana Institute of Historical Research.
(To respond to this author, either call him on (592) 226-0065 or send him an email: oraltradition2002@yahoo.com)