The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1893-12-10

scnal criticism. True TO his suggestion, |
he did find something to mend or mar: |
for with the final copy OF the poem, |
submitted to Miss Larcom. he included |
eight new lines, four OF which he |
scratched out, illustrating the way In |
which he composed. The added verse
or verses. are the third and fourth.
and were originally written on a small
niece. evidently torn from sheet OF
letter paper. -,
81 have here many letters which will
show that Whittier thought not over
much OF his work. In his youth he
dashed off q great many pieces ana was
sorry for 1t all his lifel He never be-
Ueyed in hasty work. He was a most
metbod,cal man. He made 1t a practice
20 keep the first copies OF his poems.
These are oft-times written on scraps
of paper. old envelopes, and In the ny
leaves of books But for all that ne
was slow, very slow, about pruning
them" t.o
the host picked UP an old magazine
and. opening 1t, pointed to the hrst pdee'
saying: -, r,o-
This IS volume Of the New Ehs
land Magazine for 1893. / found theIeih
on a blank page. written in lead pen0n'
the first copy of the poem cailsu 80
Cane Anr Schooner Now, the verses
were not published till thirty years later!
This is a most interesting act! II SHOWS
how cautious Whittier Was. fuf'heF-
! more. he has written many poems anoh-
| vmousiy, which he never IN MS lohs nv,
| saw fit TO claim. / doubt not there may
be some such floating around III lle
press to this day why, between ~
| 81. before he finally enlisted In thc anu
| slavery cause, ! have dlscoVered li'dl
| no wrote for a period Of three years.
L. 4 NJ a these.
| twenty appeared in his books This Is
much more signal. from the fact that
| Inc discarded verses were, generally
mon slavery, the very theme on which
| he gained his first great distinction
"Show him the book!" put in the poets
niece.
con, yes, here it Isl"
Mr.. Pickard then handed me what ap-
neared TO he an old notebook, in size about
| fourteen inches long and twelve wide,
containing. / should think, perhaps two
hund. ed musty leaves. This book was
crowded. from end to end, with the dis
carded verses to which the speaker had
inst alluded they were written IN
| beautiful od-fashioned style OF penman-
| shin as fine and as clear as copper plate
Not letter was missing Not a line
| BETRAYED haste. Not a word was sighted
nor slurred. There it was, page on page
| I'm it's artistic showing, silent rebuKe
from a generation gone 10 the needless
rushing men and women OF the present
VINO never would take the time 10 copy
whole book with such scrupulous hdellty'
Then an idea came 10 me-
ct is beautiful, But who did thisf
"Ah. a Philadelphia friend; lady
80 | thought; is there any couespon-
dence with herr" ! said smiling.
The niece Of the bachelor poet blushed
rosv-red; AIr. Pickard tugged in an embar-
raised fashion at his snowy beard. Be
fore he responded had added:
Did YOU find any loye-letters among
Winters literary remainsF
Mrs Pickard smiled. The host smiled.
l smiled.
Eyes" he responded, finally
"How manyW
~ great many; three packages; they
were done up. each I'm separate packet
Won see. Whittier was very methc dictl;
he did everything in this way; he labeled
everything; he had full lists Of his cor
respondents: when he died. all / had 10
do was TO write to the people he had men
toned. and ask them for the letters; he
was the most busincss-lfke man among
our purely literary men,"
eyes; but the love-letters'
Really, this is not for print; you must
excuse me; / can say nothing more on
this topic, other than that Whittier, in
his youth. wrote that sort OF letter TO
three different women. The letters were
couched i'm such language as you would
expect from a highly poetic imagination"
"WIn the letters. or any of them, be in
your compilationF'
No" said the gentleman, quietly they
will not: there is a very good reason for
this; indeed l might say. a number OF
reasons"
what are the reasonsT' said, merci-
lessly
"Well-the ladies are still alive. You
see. IL would be bad taste. Mrs. Pickard, |
is it's it not warm hereF
Another interesting incident as 10 the |
poets characteristics, discovered by the |
remains, is the fact that Whittier invit- |
ed corrections to his poems, and gladly /
embraced every opportunity 10 better MS |
lines. Thus II IS that there is such a |
marked difference In the same verses, Oft !
times. in the several editions. Whittier !
was a mercless foe Of the proof-slips |
and used his blue pencil with decision, and /
with fOrcel His expression "tO mend or |
mar" in the Lucy Larcom letter. was
one Of the strongest Of the animating in !
nuences of his literary life. He seldom |
left a poem as he wrote IT, and after !
writing It over would simply write
~
tireless search for beauty Of form and
idea. His one regret was that he had
published too much in his youth! His
oft-repeited Injunction 10 Young men was
not TO write voluminously, but to do what
little they tried well. Yet, of the hun
dreds of poems in the book Of the Phila-
delphia friend. ne selected twenty-and re-
grets it. He kept the poem entitled 'An
Outdoor Reception" twelve years before
il was published. He used to sit I'm the
Solemn Friend meetings and think out
his work He never took notes. The
copies Of his poems are, in the main,
complete drafts. If there are TO be any
changes they will come later, but will be
left in such a way as TO be easily trace
able To- the original. for I'm Whittfer's life
was order and business-like care, which
had place for everything and put every
thing in its proper place. Then, too. he
used TO compose I'm bed. He was light
sleeper. Before he dOZed IL was common
TO hear him reciting the verses that were
running In his mind. so that he might get
their sound the next day, possibly, there
would be more corrections made at that
little, cherry desk, at which he wrote so
many years. The letters show that Mr..
James c. Blaine once suggested a correc-
ton 10 Whittier, and the latter accepted
it quickly. II was the change Of a line
in the poem Among the Hills" Whittier
wrote
''Not beautiful alone, in curve and line,
But something more and better:
The secret charm eluding art,
It's spirit. not its letter"
Mr.. Blaine changed not only the form
xFbf trro f,r,