{"id":1914,"date":"2012-04-13T15:32:31","date_gmt":"2012-04-13T19:32:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/?p=1914"},"modified":"2013-10-28T17:00:20","modified_gmt":"2013-10-28T21:00:20","slug":"mcnair-to-hall-november-29-1980","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/mcnair-to-hall-november-29-1980\/","title":{"rendered":"McNair to Hall: November 29, 1980"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n
\"McNair-to-Hall-11-29-1980\"<\/a>\"McNair-to-Hall-11-29-1980\"<\/a>\"McNair-to-Hall-11-29-1980\"<\/a><\/p>\n

[Click image to view]<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

November 29, 1980<\/p>\n

Dear Don,<\/p>\n

Just so you won\u2019t think you have a Louis Untermeyer
\non your hands, I do want you to know I am aware
\nof the resonance of that last sentence in \u201cOut, Out-.\u201d
\nI think the sentence means just what you said.
\nOn the one hand, it suggests the people are outrageous
\nin being so sensible as to turn to their affairs,
\ngiven the strange and violent death of the boy, and
\nthe seeming malevolence of the saw that caused his
\ndeath. But the sentence also implies, as you say,
\nthat there is little else for the people to do \u2013 and
\nbesides, their ignorance (some of it willed) saves them
\nfrom living with \u201cfright,\u201d and perhaps from giving
\ntheir own hands to saws.<\/p>\n

I happen to feel that a certain malevolence
\nhung over Herman (my father-in-law), especially
\nin his last days, and that he was aware of it, too.
\nSo in a way, I see what the boy, with Frost, sees.
\nBut I also identify with those people, and so
\nmy quotation. With them, I feel the danger of
\n\u201cfright\u201d and the pull of \u201caffairs.\u201d More knowing<\/p>\n

2\/<\/p>\n

than they are, I nonetheless respond as they respond.<\/p>\n

There, I hope I have cleared things up.
\nI will try not to take so much for granted next
\ntime I quote Frost!<\/p>\n

Good that Joey is moving onward with
\nthe new poems. I hope for some good news,
\nas my book has been rejected by Georgia,
\nwith no more than a form letter. Earlier, I
\ngot a note from Costanzo at Carnegie-Mellon
\nwhich said that he like the book very much,
\nbut that he would not be able to publish it
\nthis year as he had already accepted all the books
\nthe current budget would allow. Did I tell you
\nI got a form rejection letter from Houghton
\nMifflin some time back? Over two years after
\nthe book\u2019s completion, the rejections keep coming in.
\nI am not too down about that yet, but I do
\nhope something breaks by spring. Otherwise, I
\ncould be in trouble.<\/p>\n

Ah, well. To affairs! In that department<\/p>\n

3\/<\/p>\n

I should tell you about my sabbatical application
\nI have decided to take a year-long sabbatical
\nnext year if I can get it \u2013 and I think I can.
\nI haven\u2019t ruled out a move from Colby, but I
\ndo believe I should not pass up the possibility
\nof a year (15 mos. Actually) for writing if
\nI can get it. I would, besides, much rather have
\ncompleted poems than a job at any university,
\nhowever stable or prestigious.<\/p>\n

I let you know how this goes. I should
\nknow by mid-December.<\/p>\n

The writing still goes slowly and well.
\nI shall hold all back, with no help from
\nJoey, for a while though.<\/p>\n

Thanks to you and Joey for all your help,
\nand regards to Jane!<\/p>\n

Love,<\/p>\n

Wes<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

\n\n
\n <\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[Click image to view] November 29, 1980 Dear Don, Just so you won\u2019t think you have a Louis Untermeyer on your hands, I do want you to know I am aware of the resonance of that last sentence in \u201cOut, Out-.\u201d I think the sentence means just what you said. On the one hand, it […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2206,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[35324,35504,42976,42963,293],"tags":[],"builder_content":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1914"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2206"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1914"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1914\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9832,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1914\/revisions\/9832"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1914"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1914"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1914"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}