Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1884-01-18
THE QUAKER POET.
Ills Early Work and Poor Pay.
ilia Nn.Methoi Way OF Turn
ing Out Work.


sns unlk" M, nf a." rest think for
ipevsr hal al, mc'nei- Whom felt liks
u wr''". ani u.ili,er hal thc health nor
The fsaii"nce So wnik over Z; nftcrwari IL
usually went ~ u Wn. orignally completed.
Emefson wf,t" with great carr. aud would
nj ouly revie h- manuscript carefully. hut
| have often heari him say TINT he would
inr'rmnily roNriie a." nrticlc upon tho
ps-f sheets ienurfel,ow, ton. was very
careful writer g. wrote aud rcwrute. and
wuuii lay his work T., aud then r-vi-, IT, iIo
often wuuli cunsnit with hi. friend. about
his pro-luciiun- l-f ~ they were given to tho
world lle Therefore s,nt his work ont n
l~rfs~', a. ersat can' AMI bril.an' intellect
coad make IL was not ~o fnr,unlt,
have hvei mostly secluded lif. with li;tl.
tatifncc a. draw upon. nni only few
friends iof a-,ociais~ VIVA, writing have
DINE ha. issn f,r ~. love II H. | have ever
te~a timid uf what | have I-nnel Il is
really marvel a. M. that | have gathered
any literary reputation from my proluc-
t'ns
"Much that I have written wish was as
d"p In the Red SEA ~ rharaoh's chariot
wherls Much ~ the hr-.l cast on the wa
s-r. ! wi.h had never bs.rn returned. II Is
MT far b. revive writings composed in tho
shadow e conditions that make even nc.
clsahl. work impossible In my early life |
was not favored with good opportunities.
Limited chances ~ education AMI "A lack II
hoots always stood IN nay way Wh'n lac
ran io write hal .ecn nothing aud virtually
knew noth.nr of the world. Of course,
things written then couli not have bcen
worth much
'in my father. hpu~s there was not n
4. s"n is-,ks. nnl they wcrc ~ n severe type.
Tue only une that approached poetry was a
rhymsi history nf X ~. David. written by n
contemporary of G~gse Fox. the Qral;er.
There was ol" is-r novel In thu family II
tslsngs~i a. M aunt Tbs | Knrural one day,
tmt ~len ! bah read II half through was
Discovered, ani II was taken away from
me-
Ths I"'t laughed quite heartily as he re
cails~i ih 49, carly days. and his first attempt
To rad -"niething tina, was more suited to
bis youthful mind than the bible or the his
tory of king David
my first glinl~, oi p~try was whom my
old ~'i'ooinastcr brought n copy Of Burns
Ioen,~ and rraI from IL at our house. My
nr.t real work was done when George ID.
Prentice vas editing The Hartford Review,
although hal written considerably before.
wrot" AMI sent him few things and lac EN-
co,rag.i me. When he recommended me "a
take his place. the publishers wrote me AMI
went down ! hal then seen practically
nothing of N. world. aud for two years
rmainrd with Tie Review my creates II effort
was D. keep ps"plc from knowing how little
really knew. Il wasa providcntial opening,
however. for u gave mo a start.
II wrote continually. but there was no
market ior the work My anti-siavcry con
vct,ons ma'le my name valuele~ Ia any OF
the masasines. hut. strange as IL may appear
The bemocratic Review was always anxious
fan my writings"
WAS thrc no market at allf No price SET
upon yous workr'
None ! just wrote for any paper that
would publish my matter, and II Longfellow,
Esasf~"r. Hawthorne or myself had been
fcfce'i Ia rely uron the products Of our pens
Tor our living wa would have wanted bread
Ia iho>r dsys when most Of our best work
was do,ie To mo Ibis Is queer phase II lit
srafy life, to find that tho greatest geniuscs
that America has ever given to literaturs
should have toiied without rccompense. and
icn fortssi to wait until they were old before
raping the fruits ~ their labor. Truly, II Il
hard work fpr writer 10 get foothold, but
when he does II l. n strong one"