Typed note by Witter Bynner indicates that Roseboro' gave him the letters. Yes, certainly knows A Shropshire Lad. Don't her own poems show it? Traced Housman in Shropshire, where he seems unknown. Visited him in a boardinghouse in a dreary London suburb. He looked gaunt, seemed bitter, but is the only English poet now active whose work will endure. Though an instructor in Latin, he writes strictly from the level of a country boy. Willa S. Cather [Stout #88]
Hard to believe he [ Housman ] refused the money. What nobility! Still remembers, from when she paid that call along with two American friends, the holes in his shoes and in the carpet, couch with broken springs, his uneasiness. Manner stern and patrician. They all cried on the way back. [Stout #89]
Writes about life in the West out of personal experience. Realizes stories are rather grim. Some details in "A Wagner Matinee" remembered from Cather ranch. Recalls how she and her brothers loved the few trees that grew along a nearby creek, the bleakness of the first Christmas, the drought during early college years, when there were suicides among their neighbors. Things are better there now. Willa Sibert Cather [Stout #105]
Agrees the story is rather chilly and impersonal, but it doesn't warrant amplification. Looks forward to visit so they can talk. Will try again on The Golden Bowl [James, 1904]. Didn't manage to penetrate it last year. Wonders what new Kipling story is about. Willa Sibert Cather [Stout #109]
Has revised the story but done nothing with the novel. Appreciates his calling her book to [Henry?] James's attention; very pleased with James's letter. Would be disappointed if he and a couple of others did not think the way he says. Feels nervous at the thought of his considering her writing further. Willa Sibert Cather [Stout #110]
Envies his getting away and wishes him luck. He seems to think she wants to exploit his work as Witter Bynner might, but as a fellow writer, is simply interested and will give his stories fair consideration. Hopes he brings back literary spoils. Willa Sibert Cather [Stout #117]
Thanks for his book of poems. Received one by Ford Madox Hueffer [Ford] the same day. Particularly likes the "Harvard Ode" and "The Fruits of the Earth." Willa Sibert Cather [Stout #133]
Is glad to send the verses he asked for. Gives permission to reprint. Willa Sibert Cather [Stout #178]
Was about to sail for Germany when Judge McClung decided Isabelle must not go. Will start for Durango August 6. Proofs are finished. Even the page proofs needed a lot of correction. Loves North of Boston [Frost], so bare and strong. Knowing real poetry is being written enables her to tolerate even the likes of Witter Bynner. W. S. C. [Stout #317]
Brother Douglass died of a heart attack in early June. He had spent her birthday with her last December in New York. Is having trouble getting over it. P.S.: Got a laugh for the first time in a long while from The Laughing Horse [satirical literary magazine published in Taos, N.M., by Witter Bynner's secretary and friend Spud Johnson]. It caught Mary Austin and Mabel herself quite well. Willa Cather [Stout #1411]
