Skip to main content

#1757: Willa Cather to Sigrid Undset, April 8, 1947

More about this letter…
Plain view:

Guide to Reading Letter Transcriptions

Some of these features are only visible when "plain text" is off.

Textual Feature Appearance
passage deleted with a strikethrough mark deleted passage
passage deleted by overwritten added letters overwritten passage
passage added above the line passage with added text above
passage added on the line passage with added text inline
passage added in the margin passage with text added in margin
handwritten addition to a typewritten letter typed passage with added handwritten text
missing or unreadable text missing text noted with "[illegible]"
uncertain transcriptions word[?]
notes written by someone other than Willa Cather Note in another's hand
printed letterhead text printed text
text printed on postcards, envelopes, etc. printed text
text of date and place stamps stamped text
passage written by Cather on separate enclosure. written text
⬩W⬩S⬩C⬩ Dear Sigrid Undset1:

If you knew how many times I have read over your letter and enjoyed it, I think you would be glad you took the pains to write me. The latter part of the winter has been very bad for me. I overstrained a tendon in my right hand4 — the same tendon which I injured eight years ago. I had thought it completely cured but it had a relapse in January, and since then I have been carrying it in a steel and leather brace to keep it absolutely still. The brace was made by an expert surgeon5, is very light and comfortable, and my thumb lies in a neat little trough, apart from the rest of my hand. I sleep with it on, without any discomfort.

Isn't the world behaving very strangely, after all? Miss Lewis6 lunched this week with half a dozen very advanced Hindus, introduced to her by old friends7 (artists) who live out in the East. Their talk was really absurd, and very boastful and exultant about India8's release from English rule9. "Out from under the heel of the despot at last"! Wait until a few thousands are dieing of famine in the streets of their cities, when there is no Wavell10 to go down to Calcutta11 and supervise the rescue squads in the streets.

England12 has certainly been hard hit. Aside from the shortage of coal and food, the regimentation has been very severe — I suppose necessary. An aged friend of mine, who ⬩W⬩S⬩C⬩ petitioned for a permit to buy enough lumber to mend his veranda floor, fell and broke his hip before he could get permission to buy the necessary lumber. At his age he will scarcely survive such an accident.

Yes, Madame Undset, the winter has been mild here with us, drearily and demoralizingly mild — soft and damp. You probably know the Irish proverb, "A green Christmas makes a full graveyard." We had a three-day blizzard which roused false hopes; after that, sloppy, pale spring weather.

I think New York2 has become the most foolish city in the world — to live in. All the old women have had their hair dyed yellow — or cut short and violently frizzed. One rarely sees a really well-dressed woman.

I am glad that you remember with pleasure the shadbush and the dogwood. I wonder whether you happened to be in the South when the Judas tree (cercis canadensis) was in blossom.? In Virginia13 when I was a child, the dogwood and the Judas tree and the white locust tree always blossomed at the same time. (The shadbush thrives only further North, I think.)

Dear and kind friend, this is a foolish letter but you must forgive me. The warm, soft winter, and the strange deterioration in human beings take all one's spirit. Every American now seems to want to live in New York City, drink cocktails and wear outrageous clothes. Miss Lewis and I have both had a good winter in so far as general health is concerned. My right ⬩W⬩S⬩C⬩ hand has been a great drawback for the last six months, but it is getting better and I hope to escape from New York before very long. When I go North you shall hear from me.

Always affectionately and deeply admiringly yours, Willa Cather
Sigrid Undset1 Lillehammer3 Norway NEW YORK, N.Y. CHURCH STREET STA2 APR [illegible] 1947 1 PM