A Guide to Richard Wilbur Letters to Mr. Steele, 4 & 7 May 1972 Wilbur, Richard, Letters to Mr. Steele, 4 & 7 May 1972 10298-a

A Guide to Richard Wilbur Letters to Mr. Steele, 4 & 7 May 1972

A Collection in
The Clifton Waller Barrett Library
The Special Collections Department
Accession Number 10298-a

Special Collections, University of Virginia Library

Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library
University of Virginia
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Processed by: Special Collections Staff

Repository

Special Collections, University of Virginia Library

Accession number

10298-a

Title

Richard Wilbur Letters to Mr. Steele, 4 & 7 May 1972

Physical Characteristics

2 one page letters; (TLS)

Language

English

Abstract

In two letters to a Mr. Steele (possibly Paul Curry Steele), dated 4 & 7 May 1972, Richard Wilbur grants permission to use a quatrain, comments on Steele's poems, and relates an anecdote.

Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Use Restrictions

See the University of Virginia Library’s use policy.

Preferred Citation

Richard Wilbur Letters to Mr. Steele, 1972, Accession #10298-a, in the Clifton Waller Barrett Library, Special Collections Dept., University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Va.

Acquisition Information

These letters were purchased by the Library from Jerry N. Showalater, Ivy, Va. on 18 April 1994.

Scope and Content Information

In a letter dated 4 May 1972, from Richard Wilbur, Cummington, Massachusetts, to Mr. Steele, Wilbur grants permission to use the quatrain in question and to entitle it "Quatrain for First Frost" if Steele clears it first with Wilbur's publisher; enjoys the Clerihews, especially the one about Hitler; and says of Steele's poems, "You tell me of a life full of difficult and painful experiences, yet you do so calmly, stoically, and in a good style. You have my respect."

In a letter dated 7 May 1972, also to Mr. Steele, Wilbur comments on the revisions of several of Steele's poems with approval, especially the line "caused pale prelates to flush crimson"; relates an anecdote about the Windsors told by Louis Bromfield when Wilbur was an undergraduate at Amherst; and praises Steele's Clerihew on Garbo.