Letter from William De Witt Snodgrass to Louis Untermeyer discussing edits and changes to the manuscript of the poem Meat Boy.https://scholars.unh.edu/snodgrass/1005/thumbnail.jp

Snodgrass, W. D. (William De Witt), 1926-2009

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Transcription:Yaddo Saratoga Springs, N.Y. Sept. 20, 1962 Dear Louis, Well, here it is. This version is nine stanzas shorter and, I think, a good bit more imaginative. (Or, at least, it ought to be – I’ve picked the brains of everyone I know!) If it still needs shortening I’d like to suggest cutting stanza #16, the one that starts "What if I grow …." The only reason I kept it at all is that I got fond of the line about "I guess they’ll be sorry then" which sounded familiar to me and which wouldn’t seem to go into any other stanza. But I doubt if that’s reason enough to hang onto the whole stanza. I’ve tried boiling down the beginning (perhaps making stanzas 2 + 3 into a single Transcription:stanza), but that didn’t seem to work well. Finally, after you’ve read it through, is the last stanza on page 3 (stanza 29) clear? I could change "I’m good for me;" into "I’d eat myself;" but I’d rather dislike to. Perhaps I’d just better leave open an option to make a few changes – esp. in those stanzas. OK?Hope all is going well. I certainly envy your taking off toward Washington. It’s cold and gray here in Saratoga and I keep foreseeing a dreadful winter in Detroit. Look forward to seeing you at the Library’s big October whing-ding. Let me know how you feel about the poem.All the best,DE

Letter from William De Witt Snodgrass to Louis Untermeyer, September 20, 1962

https://scholars.unh.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1005&amp;context=snodgrass

Letter from William De Witt Snodgrass to Louis Untermeyer, September 20, 1962

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