Dear Sterling:-

Bully letter from you! and many thanks for the poems - all beautiful as usual!

I'll bet the Muse doesn't call it rape!

Yes, I've been reading the H-J Weekly a good while, and have been somewhat astounded at Sinclair's thesis. As you doubtless knew, I admire Sinclair. Within certain limits he is great. But I have long thought that whenever he undertakes to discuss art, he misses the point. It is, of course, obvious that he can not successfully defend the sweeping statement he makes as to all art being inscapably propaganda. Without any special effort anyone who has read widely can name hundreds and hundreds of poems, for instance, that are not in any sense whatever to be regarded as propaganda. It is a pity for a man to tie himself to any dogmatic belief in this shifting cosmos. What Sinclair says of Homer shows that he has never gotten into Homer at all. It is too bad. Just the same, he is extremely interesting even when he is wrong, for he is a genius, and, in some ways, a great one, I think.

Macmillans have just written me about the WARS. The contracted for it last winter, but had seen nothing of it until now. They surely make a noise like enthusiasm.

I had just written to my mother, who is spending the fall and winter in Buffalo, that she must see the THIEF OF BAGDAD, as the title were by you. And now, dammit, I have to write and tell her that Doug wasn't as eager for the best as I had thought.

Have you happened to look at Motion Picture for
August? I'm told it has my phiz together with an announcement of the proposed filming of the FRIENDS. I saw my phiz in Classic lately. So you see I'm getting in bad. Any moment now I may take to dope, commit Brighamy and daily with licentious chauffeurs. Then you won't like me any more. However, I am a virgin yet.

Why don't you want to publish your love poems?

And why don't you let Robertson bring out all your stuff in a Collected Edition?

Always,

Jno. Neihardt