Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1884-1886, 1885-03-01
WOMAN AND HOME.
HOW A PoETEsS "FLoUNDERED INTO
THE GREAT WORLD"
The Devotion Of woman-Work Which
Can he Done, and Well Done. By
tho Fair Sex-True EAscIn0-
tion-Notes-
Helen Bartlett. in Pioneer Press,


There was one subject touched upon by
Mr.. Helen Hunt jackson which caused her
eyes to brighten and her cheeks to glow in a
| way that showed how enthusiastic she can
| become over what she considers true ex ,el-
| lence The subject was Edith Thomas.
whose contributions to The Atlantic and
| The Century have attracted such wide at
| tention, as evincing talent OF Tn unusually
high ORDER Edith Thomn.' future is some
thing assured" remarked Mrs jackson; Il
consider her work the finest Of tho
kind in America Then she told me
| the circumstances OF her debut into
the literary world when was
| In New York, at the Brevoort house, some
| three years ago." she began, Il was spoken
| to by friend about poetical young woman
by g name OF Z 18th Thomas, and asked TO
| take an interest in hsr. Now i had been
bothered TO death by these aspiring daugh
tsrs OF rhyme, and didn't want to see her
and / said SO. Imagine then, my disgu,.
| when. the next morning, AS l WAS feeling
particularly out OF sorts. the day being the
personification Of dampness and gloom, the
waiter brought me up Miss Thomas card
Here Mrs. jackson knitted Der Lrows TO-
gether, bracei herself up and remarked:
-Yes, will tell il Just as il happened-it isa
good punishment for me- Well, / turned TO
the waiter, told him to say / was engaged,
and tho man had actually reached the door,
when a better impulse seized me. The re-
| suit was that Miss Thomas came up-a tall,
lank. forlorn-l looking young woman, with
drabbled water proof clinsing MOSTLY abou:
her, and an unwieldy scrap-book under her
arm Ny heart sank within me. She was
very diffidsnt, but finally said that she was
from Geneva, Ohio, and had written for
some time to The Geneva Herald and The
Cleveland Plaindealer, but now sought a
wider field. Oh, how l writhe," continued
Mrs. Jackson, clasping and unclasping her
hands. and frowning prodigiously, ~when l
think OF how talked to that girl; how l
| told her it was better to be at the head Of
the intellectual life Of her little village than
| to founder out into the great world; and
patronized and discouraged her to the full
extent OF my powers"
The upshot OF it all was that Miss Thomas
went away, leaving the scrap-book behind
| her to stand for hours as q horror which
Mrs jackson must face. Sheeyed the book,
she dreaded 1t. she shrank from it as from a
hiIe rus dream, until at last her husband ad-
! vi-ei her to send it back unread. No, she
wa. to conscientious for that; 80, finally, she
,avasely opened it, and the first thing her
| eyes fel upon was a sonnet entitled Frost
| an the first lines OF this sonnet were the e:
How sharp tooth hath mined the seasons
heart!
How cold touch hath turned the woods to
fire!
Great heavens she cried. Mr.. Jackson
jumped up and inquired what was tho mat
| ter. For rep.y his wife slowly repeated the
lines ID, you hear thatf' she asked They
ara Shakespearean- Then Sho read on,
going from one gem to another, AMI before
| sleeping that night had read every line in
| the book. from cover to cover. The next
| morning she telegraphei for Miss Thomas.
and apolosized heartily for her conduct Of
tho day before. The only revenge she took
remarked Mrs jackson, with a smile, was
| in saying quietly, Il thought You did not
quito understand me- Then in answer to
questions, she told that she lived in Geneva,
Ohio, with a mother and sister, and had
lived wholly in her home and with nature.
| reading only tho old Greek and Latin ella .sics
| and Shakespeare, which she knew by heart
Mrs Jackson next sent for Mr.. Glider, the
| editor OF The Century, and read to him tn.
sonnet Frost Mr. Glider was amazel,
| asked how old the young woman was, and
| exclaimed: why, at 26 l could not write
90 we'll as that" Indeed" replied Mira
Jackson. with vivacity, you and l would
give our eyes II We could ever write SO well
as that" Subsequently letter frvm Mrs
Jackson to The Atlantic, enclosing q mum
l,er OF sonnets. secured Miss Thoma,' en-
trance into those hallowed yellow leaves,
Mr.. Aldrich proving not less responsive than
| Mr.. Glider 20 tho beauty of her verse. 10
Is absolutely fawless.' said Mrs Jackson.
at tho close Of her narrative. Il have never
scsl line from her pen, either OF poetry or
prose. that was no; exquisit, in thought, and
| perfect in form and finish"