Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1886-08-18
THE PoErEss OF PASSION.
Ella Sappho Wheeler wilcox and
Her Successes.
From the Chieag0 TriIuAe

torship OF Literary Life was refused by
| Ella Wheeler Wilcox before il was offered
to Miss Rose Cleveland. The Wisconsin
| poet had the good sense to perceive that
the task Of Sisyphus was one which the
world never fully appreciates and seldom
rewards, and the labor of rolling the
stone daily, weekly, or monthly to the
summit is unnoticed save by passing
| criticism, and has to be painfully gone
over and over again. Such labor, inVOlv-
ing as it does much pOse, discrimination
| and decision of character would not nave
suited the nature and capacity of Mrs.
| Wilcox, who is one of the few uncalcu-
lating mortals left IN this era of calcula-
| ton. Her moral guide IS her impulse,
and she never stops to count the cost of
| an action, or to suspect that others may
! be less generous than she in her judy
| ment. such person, ii can easily be seen,
| would have made an Incompetent editor.
| Such person is meant TO be nothing
under the sun but poet.
When in New York Mrs. Wilcox called
| one morning upon Mary Mapes Dodge,
the editor of st. Nicholas. After her card
had been handed from small boy to big
boy, from big boy to a man, and from
| man to a lackey, she was ushered into the
sanctum. Mrs. Dodge looked up hur-
riedly, still holding her pen IN her hand,
and said:
"Well what do you wants"
Mrs. Wilcox gasped for moment, then
thinking there might be some mistake, in
quired:
You received my card?"
Mrs. Dodge held up tue card for an
swer.
81 thought it possible" the abashed
visitor explained, ''that you might have
heard of me BEFORE"
NO" said Mrs. Dodge, still neglecting
to offer chair, 81 never did"
BY this time embarrassment was begin
| ming to give place to anger in the mind
OF the intruder, and she found her
| tongue.
81 would not have thought it so likely
that you would have heard of me, al
/ though l have written for great many
years and published four BOOKS, but that
you have yourself accepted al least five
of my poems.'
Indeed" Mrs. Dodge condescended to
say; but then we have so many contribu-
tors"
"Besides," went on Mrs. Wilcox, still
continuing her defense, ''f you read the
papers L thought you must have heard of
me, for since l came TO New York four
large receptions have been given me at
| which almost all of the literary people of
the city have been present, and as each re-
ception was hOnOred with column report
in several OF the daily papers,
u seldom read the papers," said Mrs.
Dodge.
The Western lady went home with
chagrin gnawing at her heart. She did a
| thing which may not have been in the best
taste, but which certainly was due to her
! self and the preservation Of her dignity.
She sent copies of the accounts of these
various receptions at which noted peop e
| had read selections from her poems and
of her last two published books 20 tue Of
flee of st. Nicholas. The next day grace
full little note of apology arrived from
Mrs. Dodge, saying that her life was such
a secluded one and so filed with the
round of editorial duties that she found
herself ever and anon dropping behind
the rest of the world.
Had Mrs. Dodge realized the true facts
Of the case she would have compreheuded
how severely this ridiculous interview
| told against her. AS a writer of purely
| sentimental verse few American women
have surpassed Mrs. Wilcox. 1t would
be safe to say that there is not town in
the United states, however remote, that
has not been made acquainted with some
OF her 5000 poems copied into the 'poets'
corner" of the local paper, while in many
OF these places the name of Mary Mapes
Dodge would be an empty, meaningless
! sound.
Miss MuIock Of Mrs. Frances Hodgson
| Burnett could have made very pretty
romance about the first year of Mrs. Will
coXs married life. Though she had long
| since passed glrlhOOd, she had lost little OF
that fresh and brave radicalism and that
| unf1inching enthusiasm which is such a
surprise and charm. During the year
| OF their engagement--an engagement
which was made at the third meeting of
the loyers-she worked INCREASINGLY to
place her father and mother in position
OF comparative independence. Her hus-
band was representative of one ot those
| peculiarly conservative New England
families which gauge the world by their
| own little, narrow, aristOcratic measure.
The breadth of his ideas had. no doubt
always been an astonishment to the peo-
pie amid whom he lived. All of the
young men of his town, the families of
which were as we'll known to each other
as II they had been related, were eX pected
to marry somebody of their own village
as colOrless as the New England Ideal
would permit. Into this oppressive at
mOsphere this Western woman, full of
nerve, independence, and confidence in
her powers, was brought by her husband
This well-bred and sleepy town was scan
dallzed. II one of TIE Western builaloes
had been let into their sacred china thew
could not have been more alarmed. They
all called on her, but they did so surrep-
titiOusly, as they would have done Bar
NUNS "greatest show on earth.''
They found lady looking fifteen years
younger than her actual age. full of mag
netio cordially, afraid to talk of nothing
under the sun, actually having ideas
which she dared to set uD in opposition to
their own, and wearing house dresses
whose style scandalZed the feminine por-
ton OF the town. These were white or
cream satin gowns made as the women of
Nine. de StaePs time wore theirs, with
a waistband under the arms, huge putfs
at shoulder and elbow, and Wateau
plait at the back. As every day is
working day with this prolific writer.
| these dresses, which were at once a com.
bination Of beauty and of ease, were
| worn to sdo away with the neces-
sity OF those restrictions about the
waist which are a necessity to
formal toilet, and which are very difficult
to write in. Little by little and almost
| impercebt5lv this vigorous, essentially
! human influence, began to make Itself
! felt. freedom OF action and OF speech
| hitherto unknown TO these CONSERVATIVE
| ladies' asserted itself. AT the end OF six
months the dresses which had caused so
much amusement were adopted by half
| the young ladies in the village as their
combined picturesqueness and comfort
were realized. The respect which had