Edgar Fawcett , on Union Club stationery, New York , to Bliss Carmen

Extent:

16 p.

Scope and content:

[Fawcett writes a long letter to the young Canadian poet, full of literary advice, at the beginning of Carmen's career when he was assisting Herbert S. Stoneand H. Ingalls Kimballin editing their magazine The Chap-Book, discussing his annoyance with Stone's rejection of his own verses and his impression of Carmen's poetry. Fawcett writes, "You have, I think, a most remarkable poetic future before you in this hatefully unpoetic age. But I somehow feel you will win more of the lovers whom your unique lyric poignancy and fascination are sure to win, if you avoid the vague, the ambiguous a little more determinedly than you are now sometimes doing. ... You are a kind of sea-gull of song, and like that strong white bird your genius floats fearlessly out into mists and vapors....Why not take that Atlanticpoem -a superb piece of original lyricism -and model your future work after its combined dreaminess and lucidity."]

Names:

Union Club
Edgar Fawcett
Bliss Carmen
Herbert S. Stone
H. Ingalls Kimball

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