HARDY FORUM ARCHIVE H21/97 12/31/97 HARDY AND THE U.S., INVITATIONS TO ======================================================================= Date: Wed, 19 Nov 1997 10:47:37 -0600 (CST) From: David Havird Subject: Invitation to US Does anyone know the source of Hardy's invitation to the US which occasioned the poem "On an Invitation to the United States" in POEMS OF THE PAST AND THE PRESENT? I've searched Seymour-Smith, Millgate, Gittings, and Weber--no luck. Thanks. David Havird ********** Date: Wed, 19 Nov 1997 12:12:09 From: james loucks Subject: Re: Invitation to US Bailey (138ff.) thinks it could be any one of "various invitations." Jim Loucks ********** Date: Wed, 19 Nov 1997 12:31:42 -0500 From: Suzanne Johnson Flynn Subject: Re: Invitation to US I believe that Hardy was invited by the University of Virginia to attend some sort of ceremony to mark the 50th anniversary of Edgar Allan Poe's death, which would have been held in 1899. I don't have my copy of the 2nd volume of the Collected Letters handy right now, but a quick scan of that time period would uncover Hardy's response to the invitation. The timing of that invitation would accord well with the composition of "On an Invitation to the United States." Good luck. Suzanne Johnson Flynn Associate Professor of English Gettysburg College ********** From: Martin Ray Sender: enl090@abdn.ac.uk Subject: Re: Invitation to US Date: Wed, 19 Nov 1997 17:34:00 +0000 (GMT) Read-Receipt-To: Martin Ray I wonder if the following is of relevance. In Hamlin Garland's _Roadside Meetings_ (New York: Macmillan, 1930), pp. 445-46, Garland recalls how, equipped with a letter of introduction from W.D. Howells, he visited Hardy in his flat at Wynnstay Gardens, Kensington, which he was renting in May-June 1899. This was the first occasion on which they had met. In the following extract, Garland describes H's reluctance to visit the States: [start] He spoke of America rather wistfully. 'I'd like to see it', he said. 'I have a great many readers over there and feel very friendly toward them, but I fear I shall never see them'. 'You would be royally received'. 'I know, I know! I'm afraid of that. I am afraid of New York. It's too rackety over there'. What he meant by this was evident. He dreaded the assaults of reporters, the din of receptions, the fatigue of dinners, and all that whoop and halloo with which every distinguished visitor was received. 'I can not deny that you would find America "rackety", but part of that could be avoided. I hope you'll come'. [end of quote] I wonder if this has some bearing on the poem, which was published in January 1902 in Poems of the Past and the Present. Pinion's Dictionary notes that H was invited to America several times. Also see Purdy's Bibliography, p. 111: 'The poem may owe something to a passage from Henry James's _Hawthorne_ (London, 1879, p. 12) which Hardy copied into his note-book in 1879 under the heading "America"'. All the best Martin Dr Martin Ray University of Aberdeen m.ray@abdn.ac.uk ********** Date: Wed, 19 Nov 1997 09:40:04 -0800 From: Betty Cortus Subject: Re: Invitation to US According to Frank Pinion (_A Commentary on the Poems_) the details of this invitation are unknown. He adds that H had a number of such invitations and that he cites two of them, July 1906 and January 1909 in the _Life_ . However, H never visited the states. Regards, Betty Cortus hardycor@mailhost2.csusm.edu ********** From: Martin Ray Sender: enl090@abdn.ac.uk Subject: Re: Invitation to US Date: Thu, 20 Nov 1997 09:37:10 +0000 (GMT) I wonder if this is not a reference to the University of Virginia's invitation on the centenary of Poe's birth in 1909 (recalled in the Life, Millgate ed., pp. 369-70). If so, it's too late for the poem. Martin Dr Martin Ray University of Aberdeen m.ray@abdn.ac.uk ********** Date: Thu, 20 Nov 1997 09:48:43 -0500 From: Suzanne Johnson Flynn Subject: Re: Invitation to US Yes, you must be right. I scanned the entire 2nd volume of the letters last night, and could find no reference to the UVA letter--so I figured it must have been the Poe centenary to which Hardy was invited. Thanks. Suzanne ********** From: Martin Ray Sender: enl090@abdn.ac.uk Subject: Re: Hardy and US Date: Thu, 20 Nov 1997 10:10:12 +0000 (GMT) More on Hardy and America. The New York Times (4 June 1926, p. 22) ran the following article, entitled 'He Must Be Heard With Respect': [start] An American returning from a visit to England brings an interesting tale. It is to the effect that in the course of a talk with Thomas Hardy the veteran said that in the United States there were two, and only two, great things - 'the poetry of Edna St Vincent Millay and what he called our "recessional buildings"' [end] Mind you, this is only the New York Times. During Conrad's one and only visit in 1923, their reporter asked JC which of his novels was his favourite. With a characteristic shrug, JC replied, 'Oh, it depends on the day'. This got reported the next morning as 'Conrad's favorite novel is _It Depends on the Day_'! A Boston newspaper reported his visit under the wonderful headline, 'Conrad Doesn't Reach Wharf'. Must have been a bad news day. All the best Martin Dr Martin Ray University of Aberdeen m.ray@abdn.ac.uk ******** Date: Sat, 29 Nov 1997 18:51:41 -0500 From: Rosemarie Morgan Subject: Re: Invitation to US You say "Millgate" et al, but I believe the ref is in the Purdy and Millgate "Letters" Volumes, (not Biography)-- I cd be wrong. Did you try the MM man himself? mhmill@chass.utoronto.ca good luck, Rosemarie Morgan ********** Date: Sat, 29 Nov 1997 18:51:41 -0500 From: Rosemarie Morgan Subject: Re: Invitation to US You say "Millgate" et al, but I believe the ref is in the Purdy and Millgate "Letters" Volumes, (not Biography)-- I cd be wrong. Did you try the MM man himself? mhmill@chass.utoronto.ca good luck, Rosemarie Morgan **********