• Title: Letter from John G. Neihardt to George Sterling, April 23, 1918
  • Date: April 23, 1918
  • Author(s): Neihardt, John Gneisenau, 1881-1973
  • Recipient: Sterling, George, 1869-1926
  • TEI XML: nei.j4c.4.6-8.xml
April 23, '18
Dear Old Man:—

Greatly delighted to hear that "Lillith" is finished! And I'll eat her up when you send her to me — married man that I am! It's big beautiful stuff.

"Moll" has both terror and pity in it.

I've got an idea. You know Leonardo da Vinci wrote of Helen of Troy in her old age. Imagined her looking in her mirror. Well, she had words to say to the image she saw there. Why don't you find those words somewhere in that head of yours & put them down in a series of sonnets, or in any other form? It would be a riffing thing for you to do.

Wasn't very sick on the ship, tho' I felt rotten. The sea came over the rail for 24 hours.

Often I have things told to me in sleep. Sometimes it is very good verse, sometimes it's a lewd joke. The other night when I had been up & was just dozing off, I got this:

There was a young actress from Glasgow,
whose acting was quite a fiasco;
But critics, who shared her
In private, declared her
A genius at making her — go!

I omit one word out of respect for the Censor.

Am pushing on with the "Friends" at a steady pace.

Bless you for caring for me at all, not to mention placing me as you do!

Good luck!

Yours always,

John

See inside.

Jordan writes: " Some day we will admit you to the Stanford ring". What can he mean?


John