Has finished first month of teaching, but may quit and go home to Red Cloud. So much effort, if one is serious about it, for so little pay. The "letters" have been rejected [projected book of open letters to actors]. Just as well; they were overwritten and not of lasting interest. Maybe some can be placed in the Critic, with Dorothy's help. "Jack-a-Boy" in the Saturday Evening Post with good illustrations. Has been reading Lemaître. McClungs have moved into new house. Would like to discuss the Pittsburgh novel. [Two poems are enclosed: "Caliban" and "The Inexorable."] Willie [Stout #68]
Hopes she can schedule her visit earlier, as school begins January 2. English now a major subject because of her, and must uphold responsibility. But come any time. Very eager to see her. Willa [Stout #71]
Examinations to begin soon. Will sail the 14th from Philadelphia, be in England until mid-to late July, depending on when she can meet them in Paris. Why has Dorothy been reading old Hesperians? Is not proud of her writing in them. Was not happy during that time. Hopes she likes new verses ["Lament for Marsyas" and "Hawthorn Tree"]. P.S.: Plan to go to Shropshire. Willa [Stout #72]
[Begins with lines from A. E. Housman, "The Recruit."] Is looking forward to seeing her in Paris. After Liverpool went to Chester, then to Shrewsbury. [Inserts four lines from Housman's "The Welch Marches."] Saw football being played [two lines from "(Is my team ploughing)"] and went to Shrewsbury jail [four lines from "(On moonlit heath and lonesome bank)"]. Tracing scenes of A Shropshire Lad. Has found out Housman's London address from his publisher. Ludlow Castle delightful, with its associations with both Housman and Sir Philip Sidney. [Inserts three stanzas of her own poem "Poppies on Ludlow Castle."] Willie [Stout #73]
Has taken pictures to be developed, shopped with Miss [Evelyn] Osborne for underclothes, and overeaten on Mme Sibut's excellent fish. Please scold the laundress who failed to return a set of underwear. Willa [Stout #75]
Enjoyed their day at Oxford. Jealousy on the part of the two people in Paris must have been what caused the grief. She seemed strange there as well. Willie [Stout #77]
Please send newspapers that printed letters from France. Will have a volume of poems published in the spring. Would like to borrow a Lincoln directory to get addresses to send advertising circulars. Willa S. Cather [Stout #79]
Sorry to cancel visit, but must keep at work on stories, then going to New York to try to arrange book publication. Still regrets misunderstanding in the fall. Some of the stories good, but "Paul's Case" shows haste and "Pilgrim Joy" has to be discarded and replaced. Cycle will be two painter stories, one actor, one sculptor, one musician, one musical study, one writer, and one case of an artistic temperament without talent, and Fulvia. Title to be The Troll Garden, with epigraph from Charles Kingsley to explain. So wishes to come see her. Please apologize to parents. Wants her and Mrs. Canfield to read Phaedra story. P.S.: Mrs. McClung has been ill. Has scarcely had an evening to herself to work. Willie [Stout #80]
Thanks for launching her with S. S. McClure. Had a telegram from him and has been to New York to see him. Feeling elated, as if her life is now more valuable than before. McClure to run her stories in the magazine, then publish as a book. Will place for her any he does not use. At the McClure house met wife of Robert Louis Stevenson, who had read the stories. Greatly appreciates his help. Other plans afoot. P.S.: Doesn't seem to be able to reach Sarah Harris. Willa S. Cather [Stout #84]
As a result of Dorothy's having written to her [Cather's] mother, has had the first letter from her that she could bear to read in two years. They may yet make peace. Isabelle and Edith away on a fishing trip to West Virginia. Sarah Harris has written denouncing the "animalism" of April Twilights—must be crazy. Is tired from parties and work. Is Mrs. Canfield painting? Has she read "The Better Sort" [volume of short stories by Henry James, pub. 1903]? Very complex and obscure. Willie [Stout #85]
