Dear Deems:

We are terribly sorry that you have been sick. Please tell us how you are quite well again, and are coming soon with Mary to Steepletop.

Yes. Say: "It was the harp that sang" etc.

Also: "Lord, how sorrow-sweet", leaving out the and.

But Edna says "Hounds" won't do in place of wolves, because there are no hounds in the wilderness. except in a modern Englishman's fox-hunting wilderness. Edna is trying to work out something like: "Snouted at by tuaked boars", but Edna says you will probably find an objection against that at once, i.e. that referring to the other guests as boars is fighting talk, let her know what you think of this. If I may say something it seems to me that snouted and tuaked oxrules that objection.

Yes, there is such a word as diocese but it is a singular, Edna says, and the plural of it would sound like a saw-mill.

Personally, Deems between you and me, I agree with you, that Bisho-pricks would sing not so goodongs as you.

Edna says, how about: "THREE THIRTY FOURTHS" "There's not a man within thy borders" Also let her know what you think about that.

She is sending you a rough draft of the second scene in a week. I think it swell, and I am dying to know what you think of it.

Love from us two to you two.

Somebody told us that they had read in Literary Digest, that you and Edna were writing an opera. Has it been announced yet? We want to know how close we must keep our mouths shut, as we don't want to behave like fools, if there is no secret any more.

EUGEN BOISSEVAIN

137 FRONT STREET
NEW YORK

been made for the musical setting. She is burning to have them. So if you
can: send them tight away. I know this makes a dirty chore for you, for which
I am awfully sorry, but Edna must get ahead with this work. If you are coming
right off, however, Edna can use your score and make a copy herself.

We are having the most beautiful weather here, nice and cool and ideal
weather for scoring an opera.

Edna sends her love to you and Mary. So do I.

EUGEN BOISSEVAIN

137 FRONT STREET
NEW YORK

Dear Deems:

We are wondering whether you finished the third in time for Ziegler. We are longing to hear it. We are wondering whether you are still thinking of coming up here. We easily could arrange it and we would dearly love to have you. The situation here is as follows: Mrs. Millay is still stopping here, and probably will remain here another month or possibly two. Harry Dowd is here. You know him. He is a sweet boy. Further Norma Millay, Edna's sister, is here and very likely her husband, Charles Ellis will be coming later. But we can give you a nice big room, where you can work and where nobody would disturb you. Everybody is most of the day in the garden, working hard, so you would practically have the whole house for yourself during the day. We have electric light now and you could work after sunset, the same as city-folk.

I give you all these details so that you can judge for yourself. Personally I think that you would work here wonderfully undisturbed. We have no telephone and no callers. If you prefer a little shock in the woods I could build you one in no time. It is a pity that the house is not empty, but things just happened this way, and it was impossible to do differently. After Charlie and Norma go we could arrange to have Mary too. It is a damnednuisance having the house crowded just now. But we will do anything for you, Deems, to make you comfortable and hope like anything that you will come.

Neither Harry or Norma know anything about the opera, and they need not know so that the opera will never be a subject of discussion at the table and when you play the third for Edna they won't be present.

In the mean time could you let Edna have a copy of your version of the text, as she cannot correct or revise from her copy, as so many changes have

STEEPLETOP

(Along in February, snowed in)

Dear Deems:

Yours received, but not so much received as fought and bled for and
wrested from the elements---five miles on snow-shoes over drifts, and into them,
fifteen feet deep, to get your letter, dearie. No, not me,---him. There were
three days the post couldn't get through from Chatham to Austerlitz, road blocked
for twelve miles, even to "these messengers whom not rain nor hail nor snow nor
powers nor principalities nor thuge nor bird-shot can keep from the faithful
performance of their duty," or whatever that blurb is that frescoes the brow of
the N. Y. C. P. O.

I am writing you from my hut, where I come every day on my snow-shoes
and build my fire and work.

Now to your letter:

I thought you would probably want to run several sets of speeches
at the same time, a la Moscow Art Theatre, and wrote quite a bit of it with that
in mind, for it seemed to me it would give you a lovely chance for some broad
swashbuckling counter-point, and be, dramatically, too, extremely effective.
The comments of the loris and ladies after Maccus finishes his song, up to the
place where the king speaks, as well as the places you indicate, should be treated
in that way, I think. But of course if you have something different in mind for
that, all right.

"If but thy belly be as deep as thy lung" etc. Have you given me
your real reason for wishing to cut these lines? Or is it that you think the word
belly should be deferred a little, until the box-holders have had time to digest
their floating-islands? Of course, these lines can easily be cut, but they seem
to me to set the color of the times in a beautiful fast dye. However, Cap'n,
suit yourself about this.

Perfectly willing to use "if" instead of "an" throughout. Also
to write "in" instead of "i!" throughout.

If you don't like "The Warlock"---and I'm not at sure that I do myself---
then The King's Henchman is the best title so far; so let's call it that until we
hit on something better, and see how it wears.

As to the names of the characters: Your objection to Origar, that
it's too much like Edgar---and I remember that Ziegler said the same thing---
would be a serious objection if the name had to be spoken very often in the play.
But Origar is not one of the principal characters; and I can easily arrange it
that whenever his name is mentioned, which need not be more than three times in
all, it shall always be qualified by the phrase, "Thane of Devon," and of course
it will stand on the program too as "Origar, Thane of Devon." I think this will
do away with any possible confusion, except in the minds of those people who think
it's Traviata they're hearing, anyway.

The names Oetharu, Leofsydu and Godgyfu don't have to be sung at all,
so musically it doesn't matter that they're difficult. One reason why I chose
names like these is that they are as different as possible from Aelfrida. If I
change them I'm afraid I shall have to change them to Aelflaeda, Aethelflaeda, etc.,
because most of the names were on this order, and I insist on using real names of
the time, not making up any. However, to avoid a scene, I will change Oetharu
and Leofsydu to something, God knows wet; but Godgyfu I won't change no matter
how you kick and scream; and anyhow, I won't change any of 'em until the day
before the program go to press. That being amicably settled, I will go on to
the next point.

NO! Edgar and Aelfrida could NOT be modernized into Edgar and
Elfreda! For who-the-hell am I writing this libretto anyway, Deems Taylor or
George Gershwin?

Honest, old bean, nobody's going to know who Edgar was, anyway;
and if you go and spell him without his remote and softening diphthong, people

3.

I suggest you just go ahead with it as it is. My eye is on it; and
I promise to fix it up.

Dunstan's line "But it weareth its birth in its sheath," is in
both senses of the word, unspeakable. That was another of the rough places. Your
"But it draws its birth from a sheath," is heape better, but still not quite good
enough. However for the present I'll O. K. that.

(Page 5)

"Nay, 'tis a known thing," etc. You're quite right to cut out the
"Cambrian twilight". Nobody would ever understand it, hearing it sung, and it
does delay and obscure the real business of the speech. I shall probably keep
it in, when the thing is published as a book, but this will doubtless happen with
many passages, and doesn't matter at all.

"At the court of King Love". Please change to

"At the hall of King Love."

Your suggestion that the speech beginning

"'Tis little a man knows of his friend" be given to Edgar in Act III,
is simply GRAND!

(Page 6)

"Well spoken, Gunner!" etc. Omitted. (O. K.) (This is bad, for
your second reason, that it "breaks into Aethelwold's abstracted mood too much".
But as for the room not being thick with smoke, this scene takes place in the
autumn, and there must be a big fire burning in the middle of the hall, which,
since it has no chimney, nor any outlet whatever save the cracks in the doors
and windows, may be supposed to have filled the room pretty thick with smoke during
a long night of carousal. I didn't mean thick with cigarette smoke, smarty.)

(Pages 7 and 8. Combination of existing scene with Insert A)

Deems, I think you're all wrong about "he needn't be too explicit."
For God's sake, let us, at least, have reasons, and good reasons, for the movements
of our characters, for their going out and their coming in and their remaining
where they are, and let us weave said reasons deftly and solidly into the texture
of our work, and let us not have Edgar remaining in Winchester to see a man
about a dog! Edgar, throughout his reign, was forever being button-holed by
Dunstan to do something about the clergy or about some other thing connected with
the Church; and these few lines give such a good picture not only of Edgar's
particular cares and activities, but of the ton of matters waiting to be adjusted
at every moment by any king who is really a king and interested in his Church
and State,---that I think it would be a damned silly shame to cut them out! If
you don't like his saying "The pocks upon these clerks" I can change it to pyorrhea
or something.

Reading this scene over, I wanted to make one or two small changes
on my own, making the scene read like this:

Aethelwold:
Sooth, as for me,---(pauses)
I'd ride to hell for these! And thou knowest it, Edgar.
I'd be thy henchman to the Fiend himself!
And call it hot a half-day's run!
But as for Devon, I am not the man to send.

Edgar:
I know thou'rt loath to go.
Nor would I ask it of thee, Aethelwold,
But being so beset with irksome business
I cannot stir from my stool---and 'twixt thou and me (glancing at Dunstan)
The pocks upon the clerks of Dunstan!
By Odin's foot, I am fed to the neck with them!---
Being, as I say, so teased # by this and that
I am stowed here for the winter in Winchester,
I have called upon thee, that are my more than brother

May 21st

Dear Deems:

I shall have to send Act III to you in small doses
like this. My head is terrible, and has been for weeks. After
I work a while it gets crazy. But I think the act is coming along
all right. And of course I have the ending already done, which
is grand. I'm anxious to hear what Gatti and Serafin had to say,
though I don't see how they could help liking it. I hope very much
that poor Mary is better now.

EUGEN BOISSEVAIN

137 FRONT STREET
NEW YORK

Dear Deem:


Enclosed four more pages.

Edna says please don't be upset that you are upto page 16 already.
It is really the same as page 15, since the first 12 pages she sent you
were typed much more lopsely than act 2. That is as you will notice
in the first 12 pages a space is left between every two speeches. This
is not done in act 2 at all. The difference she finds by counting up
the blank lines amounts to about 5 pages. She hopes to get the 3rd act into
18 pages, in which case it should not run longer than the 15 pages of act 2.
She is afraid that she cannot do it in less than 40 minutes, but will
try to keep it to that.

In any case we are coming to town Friday the 11th and you will be
able to talk it over. Don't be nervous, she want take much of your time,
although she is coming over expressly to see you.

Form 1201

WESTERN UNION
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If none of these three symbols appears after the check (number of words) this is a telegram. Otherwise its character is indicated by the symbol appearing after the check.

NEWCOMB CARLTON, PRESIDENT

GEORGE W. E. ATKINS, FIRST VICE-PRESIDENT

The filing time as shown in the date line on full-rate telegrams and day letters, and the time of receipt at destination as shown on all messages, is STANDARD TIME.

Received at

14CH BF 93 NL E BOSSEVAIN

CHATHAM NY JUL 25 1926

DEEMS TAYLOR

38 EAST 85 ST NEW YORK

CANNOT UNDERSTAND WHY I HAVE NOT HEARD FROM YOU IN
ANSWER TO LETTER HOPE YOU ARE NOT SERIOUSLY ILL STOP
DID YOU GET THIRD ACT OFF IN TIME OR IS THE WHOLE THING
TO BE POSTPONED I MUST KNOW THIS STOP IF EVERYTHING
IS ALL RIGHT PLEASE HAVE STENOGRAPHER MAKE COPY OF YOUR
VERSION OF ENTIRE LIBRETTO AND SEND TO ME MUST START
WITH OTHER WORK BUT CAN DO NOTHING UNTIL I HAVE
REVISED LIBRETTO PLEASE WIRE ME AT ONCE AUSTERLITHE BUT SEND
MANUSCRIPT ADDRESS CAMDEN MAINE EXTREMELY ANXIOUS TO HEAR FROM YOU

EDNA

432P