Williams and H. D., or Sour Grapes
1989; Duke University Press; Volume: 35; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês
10.2307/441726
ISSN2325-8101
Autores Tópico(s)Multicultural Socio-Legal Studies
ResumoRemembering H. D. in his Autobiography, William Carlos Williams gives an account of part in the marriage of Robert McAlmon and Bryher, and the subsequent departure of the happy(?) couple for Europe. He concludes with a recollection of a postcard he received shortly thereafter, representing a scene from some hit then playing showing several actors, men and women with their hands in a pot of money, and signed, obscurely, D. H., in bold capitals. I accused H. D. later of being the sender, but she violently denied it. I never believed her (A, pp. 177-78). Some of the notions Williams got into his head stayed there a long time. This was one of them. H. D. just had to have written that postcard, no matter what she might say. Williams' friend, Ezra Pound, dubbed him Bull Williams partly in honor of this capacity for mental occlusion. Williams was rather quick to accuse. Why? The evidence against H. D. is not terribly convincing. In the first place, what could motive have been for offering this oblique commentary on the marriage between an impecunious man of letters and the wealthy heiress? Williams makes no mention of that, but a few possible reasons are implied. H. D. may have been contemptuous of an arrangement that would allow McAlmon to live a life of ease; he had sold out. Or Williams himself might have been a target for scorn, since his farewell present to McAlmon and Bryher had been a box of rare orchids. Had Williams been guilty of splurging and showing off how much he could spend? No. He informs us in The Autobiography that he got them from a friend in Rutherford. He also does not say whether he paid for them, but implies that they cost little or nothing. It seems that if H. D.'s barb was directed at Williams it was misplaced. What other evidence does Williams offer? H. D. denied the accusation violently,
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