4 hand-written pages, plus envelope
Media: type
Media: black ink
Many thanks for the loving gift of the sonnet. Yes, I know it, and I knew Mrs. Reese by correspondence. Also, I once wrote an appreciative article on her work in general.
The sonnet is indeed a beautiful human expression of nostalgic yearning and the old earth-fret. It does not reach very far, but I mean no disparagement, for it is beautiful.
Your letter, Lucile, is precious, because it is simply sincere. All you say of Mona and of our relationship is
Cycle and I said, "Well, by God, we did it, didn't we?" And she said, "Yes, Daddy, by God we did". We agreed, as we had often done before, that the Cycle would never have been carried through from 1912 to 1941 (and there were some hard years in there) if we had not been
knew. I am not mourning, I suppose; at least not in the accepted sense of the word. But I have learned, what I long suspected and often knew when I thought of her going first, that all the value I placed on things, in every instance, was based on her sharing with me the sense of value.
I told Mona often that I wanted her to go first, because I did not want her to stand the earthly hell of it alone. She went first, and I know it is good.
I have to talk at Cornell University on May 21st and May 22nd. Then I must talk at an Arts Conference in Yankton, S. D., on June 5th. I'd rather not, but I must do it. I've handled my classes with