The story of a poet: Madison Cawein

Front matter

Class_£5LilJ_% Book iJN_k__

Copyright N"_

CCBDRIGHT DEPOSIT.

Contents

Pages

The Purpose of this Book i^-^^

I A Picturography of Madison Cawein 1-68

Appendix

A. List of Cawein's Books 457-466

B. Index to Poems in Cawein's Books 467-510

C. Bibliographical References 51 1-524

THE PURPOSE OF THIS BOOK

The purpose of this book is to tell the life-story of Madison Cawein, the poet. The material is presented as a complete biography and in the form of a source book. The greater portion of the story is history as printed by his contemporary press and as revealed through his letters and the reminiscences and the recollections of his friends.

Cawein preserved very little material touching upon the history of his life or of his works. That such data might some day be sought evidently never occurred to him. The little he saved bearing on his life was saved by mere chance, and most of it was either destroyed or widely scattered before this attempt to compile a biography was contemplated. Cawein died December 8, 19 14, and shortly thereafter his widow expressed her intention to write a book on his career. She was in poor health the greater part of the time after his death and therefore made no preparations to carry out her plan. Shortly after her death, which occurred in April, 1918, I made an investigation, expecting to find considerable Cawein material and to deposit it in the archives of the Filson Club for the benefit of persons who desired to do research work on that subject. All that then remained in the Cawein home was unhesitatingly placed at my disposal The bulk of it, not including the remnants of the poet's library, consisted of his high school diploma, an early scrap-book and about five hundred newspaper (not magazine) clippings pertaining to some of his books, about two hundred recent letters and a few poems in his own hand. If I am not mistaken, the quantity was even less than when I glanced over it one day during the last year of the poet's life — the year I knew him.

The small collection of sundries turned over to me was too incomplete to serve any definite purpose. It was evident that the gathering of material could be done under less disadvantage if begun at once. Believing that some day the world would be greatly interested in the life-story of the poet I assumed the work of collecting material for and compiling a volume, regardless of the time and expense required. My plans were announced through the press; Louisville friends and other Kentuckians were interviewed; pil-

ix grimages were made to most of his haunts; letters were sent and received, and about four hundred that had been written by Cawein were submitted; research work was done in various private and public libraries; visits were made in the East to some of his friends, including William Dean Howells, Clinton Scollard, Miss Jessie B. Rittenhouse, Henry Van Dyke and Harrison S. Morris. This book — a memorial to my friend — is the result of the undertaking. It is in every sense a labor of love; a task which has been more than compensated by the pleasure it has given.

An attempt is made to show the esteem in which Cawein's works were held by his contemporaries. Like Poe and Keats and many other true poets, Cawein did not receive a general recognition while he was still writing. He now awaits the wide and deserved recognition which time alone bestows. That the number of appreciators of Cawein's works never decreased but slowly increased during his life-time points toward an enduring fame. Two years before he died. The Poetry Review of London in its issue for October, 1912 — a number devoted to Modern American Poetry — said, "He appears quite the biggest figure among American poets; his return to nature has no tinge of affectation; it is genuine to the smallest detail."

Cawein's greatest hope was that his poetry would live. By publishing his poems in book form, after they had appeared in newspapers and magazines, he did much toward preserving it. During the course of his career he issued thirty-six volumes. He published a greater number of books of poems than did any other American poet. Some of the critics expressed the opinion that he wrote too much. The same critics declared, sooner or later, that notwithstanding the unusual quantity of his poetry most of it was of unusual quality. Six of his books consist chiefly of selections he made from previous volumes. It is generally admitted that a poet seldom knows his best work. To what extent this is true of Cawein must yet be determined. Miss Jessie B. Rittenhouse, of New York, is now engaged in making a Selection, which will be a step toward this end.

Miss Rittenhouse has long been familiar with Cawein's poetry and has many times written of it with sympathetic insight and appreciation. The article upon Cawein in her book. The Younger American Poets, published in 1904, indicates that she entered into and divined many of the moods of his genius. That she, herself, is a poet is evident throughout her volume of poems. The Door of Dreams. In her well-known compilations of American poetry — The Little Book of American Verse, The Little Book of Modern Verse, and The Second Book of Modern Verse — she has raised the difficult task of anthology-making to a fine art and has shown that she is a poet worthy to select another's best work. It is peculiarly fitting and singularly fortunate that Miss Rittenhouse should undertake the making of a Selection which will take the form of a definitive edition.

In the preparation of this volume on the life and the works of Cawein all material that was submitted to me or found after personal research was carefully considered. Every item which, in my opinion, bore on the poet's career was used. Should the reader possess any other letters, documents or data, or prepare for print his recollections of Cawein, the Filson Club will receive such material for deposit in its archives where it will be available to students, and from which collection parts or all may be selected for another publication.

I am indebted to the many men and women who supplied me with material used in this book, especially to the correspondents of Cawein who submitted their Cawein letters. I am also greatly indebted to the staff of the Louisville Free Public Library and to the friends of Cawein who, at my suggestion, wrote their reminiscences of him. Above all, however, I am indebted to Miss Anna Blanche McGill and Young E. Allison who aided me in many ways.

Louisville, Kentucky March 23, 192 1.

XI

A PICTUROGRAPHY OF MADISON CAWEIN

Madison Cawein as seen through sixty-three half-tone reproductions of photographs, paintings and documents bearing on his life and works, which, with their explanatory texts, present a brief biography of the poet.

List of Pictures

Page

Madison Cawein — Alberts, 1914 3

Dr. William Cawein — about 1865 4

Mrs. William Cawein — about 1865 5

The Herancour Coat of Arms 6

Site of Madison Cawein's Birthplace 7

South Fork of Harrod's Creek 8

The Old Stone Milk House, Rock Springs 9

The Cawein Cottage on the Indiana Knobs 10

View from the Cawein Cottage 11

Madison Cawein and his Brothers — about 1881 12

Madison, Charles and Fred Cawein — about 1884 13

Commencement Program — second page 16

Commencement Program — third page 17

Diploma Received by Madison Cawein 18

Louisville Male High School Building 19

The Cawein Residence, High Avenue 20

The Cawein Residence, Market Street 21

The Newmarket Pool Room 22

Publishing House of John P. Morton & Company 23

The Babbit Home — Fred W. Cawein 24

Ruins of Babbit's Mill — Wm. C. Cawein 25

A Beech Grove, near Brownsboro 26

An Old Home, near Brownsboro 27

Page

A Glimpse of the Indiana Knobs 28

Madison Cawein — about 1893 29

An Old Barn, near Jefferson town — Fred W. Cawein 30

Madison Cawein in the Woods — 1902 32

Frog Pond, near Kenwood Hill 33

The Cawein Walk, Iroquois Park 34

The Bowl, Iroquois Park 35

The Enchanted Tree — Plaschke 36

The "Gossamer Thread — Alberts 37

Bluets and Springtime in Iroquois Park — Patty Thum 38

Central Park and St. Paul's Church — Patty Thum 39

The Announcement of Cawein's Wedding 40

Madison Cawein's Residence, Burnett Avenue 41

Mrs. Madison Cawein and Son — 1904 42

Madison Cawein and Son — 1905 43

Madison Cawein's Residence, St. James Court 44

Madison Cawein's Library 45

Shawnee Park and the Ohio River 46

Cherokee Park and the Old Mill 47

Madison Cawein — King, igi2 50

Madison Cawein — Plaschke, 1912 51

Silver Loving Cup Presented to Madison Cawein 52

Madison Cawein, Bronze Bust — Roop, 1913 53

The St. James Apartment House 54

Unitarian Church and Louisville Free Public Library 55

Madison Cawein — King, 1914 56

Grave of Madison Cawein 57

Death-mask of Madison Cawein — Roop, 1914 58

Facsimile of Two Pages of a Note Book 59

Facsimile of Unfinished Manuscript — first page 60

Facsimile of Unfinished Manuscript — second page 62

Facsimile of Unfinished Manuscript — third page 64

Facsimile of Manuscript of "Proem" 66

Facsimile of Manuscript of "Caverns" 67

The Thirty-six Books by Madison Cawein 68

From an oil painting by J. Bernhard Alberts, 1914

Madison Cawein was born March 23, 1865, in Louisville, where he lived nearly all of his Hfe, and where he died December 8, 1914.

From a daguerreotype, about I860

Dr. William Cawein was thirty-eight years old when his son Madison, the poet, was born. Dr. Cawein was a practical Herbalist.

From a daguerreotype, about 1865

A/T J^^'^' f''^^'^"^ ^^w^i" was twenty-six years old when her son Madison, the poet, was born. She was interested in Spiritualism.

From a sketch

The Herancour coat of anrs. Dr. William Cawein was a descendant of Jean de Herancour who left France in 1685 for Miihlhofen, near the Rhine, Germany. There the poet's father was born in 1827.

Madison Cawein was born in Louisville in a house that stood opposite the Court House, and near Fifth Street. On its site now stands a brick building three stories high with a width of four windows.

When Cawein was nine years of age his parents moved to Rock Springs, a resort east of Louisville, near Brownsboro, on a hill overlooking the South Fork of Harrod's Creek. Many years later the poet said, "There for the first time I came in contact with wild nature."

From a photograph by Otto A. Rothert, 1920.

The Rock Springs Hotel was managed by Cawein's father in 1874 and 1875. Nothing remains of this once well-known resort except an old stone milk house from which there flows, now as then, a clear water spring. The poet often returned to the Rock Springs country.

From a phuluyraph by Utto A. Ruilurt, I'JJO

Cawein was in his eleventh, twelfth and thirteenth years when his parents lived in a cottage on the Knobs, near New Albany, Indiana. "Here I formed my great love for nature," said the poet in his comments on his youth. In 1879 the Caweins returned to Louisville.

From a photograph by Hesse, 10 JO

The Cawein cottage on the Knobs was in the center of a panorama of beautiful landscapes. On the Kentucky side, in the dim distance, can be seen Iroquois Park and Kenwood Hill. In later years the poet spent much time on these two hills near Louisville.

From a photograph, about 1881

Madison Cawein and his three brothers. Madison, the youngest, then aged about sixteen, is standing with his right hand on William's shoulder; John is holding a hat, and back of him is Charles.

From a photograph, about 1884

Madison Cawein, and his brother Charles, and cousin Fred W. Cawein. Madison is standing in the center; Charles is at his right and Fred is sitting at his left. Fred was one of the poet s closest friends.

From a photograph by Doerr, 1885

Cawein as he appeared during his last year as a high school boy.

From a photograph by Doerr, 1887

Cawein was twenty- two years old when he pubh'shed his first book.

MUSIC.

PRAYER;

BV REV. T. T. EATON, D. O.

MUSIC.

MUSIC.

ALUMNI ADDRESS, - - AuiRKT S. liHANDEis, ("i.as.< or 1K75.

Facsimile of second page of Commencement Program

Madison Cawein graduated from the Louisville Male High School on June ii, 1886. As shown on the Program, he was the Class Poet.

Alumni Prize,

Faculty Prize,

English Literature Prize.

Shakspere Prize.

Ci0r)[crrir)q oj Ueeirczs,

BY F. C. LEBER. M. D,

President of the Louisville School Board.

BENEPICTinN,

MUSIC.

CANDIDATES FOR DEGREES

.M.\l)ISON J.C.WVEIN. K.M.KKK LATIMK.K.

CERTIFICATE OF PROFICIENCY.

GKOIKilO JOHN UKKWKY.

Facsimile of third page of Commencement Program

The Class of '86 consisted of thirteen boys of whom Madison Cawein was the oldest. All received the degree of Bachelor of Arts.

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Padison |. (ftaincitt,

LITEIiATORI5, JKND SCIENCE'..

Greatly reduced facsimile of Diploma

Madison Cawein's diploma was signed by Dr. F. C. Leber, President, and Wm. J. Davis, Secretary, of the Louisville School Board; and by R. H. Carothers, Principal and Prof, of English Language; E. M. Murch, Prof, of Mathematics; H. W. Eaton, Prof, of Physics and Chemistry; Hugo R. M. Moeller, Prof, of Modern Languages; Marcus B. Allmond, Prof, of Ancient Languages; R. P. Halleck, Prof, of Logic, Psychology and Rhetoric; W. T. St. Clair, Adj. Prof.; and H. A. Gooch, Adj. Prof., the members of the faculty.

From a wood cut, aboiU 1860

In 1886 the Louisville Male High Shool Building, Ninth and Chestnut streets, appeared very much as it had many years before Madison Cawein's school days. When Cawein attended this school it represented the academic department of the University of Louisville.

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From a pfioloyraph by Fred W. Cawein, about 1890

Cawein lived on the south side of High Avenue, near Thirteenth Street, from 1882 to March 1886. The house was torn down many years ago. A Httle more than the front is shown on the extreme right.

Cawein made his home with his parents at the south-east corner of Nineteenth and Market streets from 1886 until June, 1903, when he was married. He wrote nineteen of his books while living in this house.

In 1887, and for about six years thereafter, Cawein was a cashier in the Newmarket pool room, on Third Street, where betting on horse races was the business transacted. The building is now occupied by the Caxton Printing Company, indicated by the swinging sign.

Cawein's first book, Blooms of the Berry, was printed in October, 1887, by John P. Morton & Company, Main Street, which published eleven of his thirty-six volumes, and, among other books, twenty-nine of the Filson Club Publications — including this volume. Number 30.

From a water color by Fred W. Cawein, 189S

During his high school years, and for many years thereafter, Cawein often returned to the Brownsboro country where he was the guest of the Babbits, whose old farm and home are near Rock Springs.

From a water color by Wm. C. Cawein, 1893

In 1914, Cawein wrote: "The old water mill [Babbit's Mill] in the Valley of Rock Springs has played an important part in my poems of this locality, which I have celebrated in verse now for thirty years."

Sometimes Cawein wandered alone through the beech groves, over the fields, and along the streams in the Brownsboro country, and sometimes he was accompanied by the Babbits and other friends.

This picturesque old home near Brownsboro, and many other old homes and human haunts elsewhere, appealed to Cawein no less than did the forests and fields and the hills and the hollows.

"g^^i^ag iy«iii~"Tni'iTimiTninaram^

Cawein made many pilgrimages to the Indiana Knobs, near New Albany, where he had spent three years of his boyhood on a farm.

From a photograph, about 1893

At times Cawein left Kentucky for his health or to promote his art; but no place appealed to him as did the country around Louisville.

From a water color by Fred W. Cawein, 1893

From 1891 to 1903 the poet's father owned a small farm near Jeffersontown and about twelve miles from Louisville. Its principal features were an orchard, a vineyard and a garden. The poet often visited the place, although the Caweins never used it as a home. The largest building was an old barn, "low, swallow-swept and gray."

The poet in his study. Cawein Hved at Nineteenth and Market streets during the first seventeen years of his Hterary career. Shortly after publishing his first poems he was encouraged by the Louisville press. His works attracted the attention of eminent critics in the East and in England, and he soon gained an international reputation.

Madison Cawein spent much of his time in the heart of nature.

From a photograph by James S. Escoll, lilK

The Old Frog Pond near Kenwood Hill was one of Cawein's haunts.

What is now known as the Cawein Walk was, in Cawein's time, and still is, a very secluded path in Iroquois Park. Its old stone steps were one of the poet's favorite "solitary places" for writing, photograph by Hesse, 1920

Lying just beyond the southern end of the Cawein Walk is The Bowl, one of many beautiful scenes in Iroquois Park. This large, natural park — also known as Jacob Park — was an Elysium for Cawein.

From an oil painting by Paul A. Plaschke, 1919

"The Enchanted Tree," was painted in memory of Cawein who frequently lingered under this old sycamore on Silver Creek, near New Albany and the Silver Hills. For him it was another haunt of Pan.

From an oil painting by J. Bernhardt Alberts, 1918

Cawein suggested to his friend J. Bernhard Alberts, in November, 1914: "If you'll paint a picture showing a faery wearing a necklace of dewdrops on a gossamer thread, I'll write a poem on it." Cawein died a few weeks later. In 1918 the artist painted "The Gossamer Thread," inspired by the Poet of the Fairies, and the Poet for Poets.

From an oil painting by Patty Thutn, 1915

"Bluets and Springtime in Iroquois Park," painted in memory of Cawein who often went to Iroquois Park to see the bluets in bloom.

From an oil painting by Patty Thum, 1908

"Central Park and St. Paul's Church" showing church in which Mr. and Mrs. Cawein were married, and park near which they lived.

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€httraitnv, 3i»n«r lije fanrHt

Facsimile of Wedding Announcement

Madison Julius Cawein and Gertrude Foster McKelvey were married in Louisville, Kentucky, on Thursday morning, June 4, 1903.

Mr. and Mrs. Cawein lived on tha north side of Burnett Avenue, between First and Second streets, from June, 1903, to June, 1907.

.41

From a photograph by Doerr, 1904

Mrs. Madison Cawein and son, Preston Hamilton Cawein. The boy_born March i8, 1904— is the only child of Mr. and Mrs. Cawein.

Madison Cawein and son, Preston Hamilton Cawein. After the death of the poet, the son's name was changed to Madison Cawein II.

Mr. and Mrs. Cawein lived in a beautiful residence — center of picture — in St. James Court from June, 1907, to January, 1914. This house, owned by them, is now the property of their son.

From Book New? Monthlij, \oumhti, 1!J09

Cawein's private library contained about fifteen hundred volumes. Its bay window over the porch faced the Fountain and Court. Every room in the house was expressive of his artistic taste.

From a photograph by James Speed, 1912

Cawein frequently strolled through Shawnee Park, Louisville's park on the Ohio River, watching the sunset behind the Indiana Knobs, or the moonrise, or the river glittering to the stars.

From a photograph by James S. Escott, 1912

Among Cawein's haunts in Cherokee Park was the ruins of Ward's Old Corn Mill, on the Middle Fork of Beargrass Creek, where Pan and Faun, and wood and water nymphs held rendezvous.

From a photograph by Steffens

From a photograph by Cusick, 1912

Madison C a w e i n

Cartoon by Wyncie King, Louisville Herald, March 26, 1912'

Cawein as seen by Wyncie King when the many Louisville admirers of the poet presented him with a Silver Loving Cup on the twenty-fifth anniversary of the publication of his first volume of poems..

Cartoon by Paul A. Plaschke, Louisville Evening Post, March 30, 1912

Cawein as seen by Paul A. Plaschke when the public presentation of the Silver Loving Cup took place in the Louisville Free Public Library on March 25, 1912, the poet's forty-seventh birthday.

The Silver Loving Cup presented to Madison Cawein, March 25, 1912, is ten and one-half inches high and bears the following inscription :

To Madison Cawein by the Literati of Louisville under the Auspices of the Louisville Literary Club.

To Commemorate the Twenty-fifth Anniversary of the Publication of his First Book, Blooms of the Berry.

March Twenty-fifth, 1887— 191 2.

A P iciur gr aphy

The inscription on the Bronze Bust of Madison Cawein (by James L. Roop) presented to the Louisville Free Public Library reads:

Madison Cawein, a Kentucky Tribute to a Kentucky Poet, Presented by The Louisville Literature Club, April 25, 1913.

The Caweins, in January 1914, moved into the right hand apartment on the third floor of the St. James Apartment House, in St. James Court. There the poet died of apoplexy, December 8, 1914.

Cawein was buried from the First Unitarian Church, Fourth and York streets. Opposite that church stands the Louisville Free Public Library where the poet spent many hours reading books and magazines.

Cartoon by Wyncie King, Louisville Herald, December 9, 1914

The Louisville press devoted many columns to Cawein at the time of his illness and death. The Louisville Herald published this cartoon by Wyncie King: "In Avalon, The Fairy Isle in Fairy Seas."

Cawein was buried in Cave Hill Cemetery, Louisville. At the head of his grave is that of his father, marked by the tall stone. At the side of his grave is that of his wife who died on April i6, 1918.

Death-mask of Madison Cawein, made by James L. Roop.

Ok.ccI-^

Cawein filled many note-books, but as far as known, preserved very few. The two pages here shown were printed, after some changes were made, in 1906, in Nature Notes and Impressions in Prose and Verse.

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Facsimile of the first of three pages in a composing note-book used by Cawein when writing in the woods — probably the year 1914. As far as is known this poem, here shown in process, was never finished.

Three kisses I remember That never come again

That make June of December

And hold me heart and brain (And of my soul remain — ) (With longing and with pain)

The first one hers who taught me To love against my will,

That into knowledge brought me And bade me drink my fill (At life's wild running rill — ) (Whose passion haunts me still)

The second one was given

A transcription of the lines shown on the opposite page.

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Facsimile of the second of three pages in a note-book used by Cawein.

Upon my nuptial night (It bade me know of heaven

The rapture and deHght) The angel hosts of heaven

Know no more of delight (It bore me up to heaven

And bade me see the white Of dawn that on that height Still holds me with its light.

The third one, filled with laughter And youth with joy abrim

No kiss shall follow after

To make my senses swim.

A transcription of the lines shown on the opposite page.

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Facsimile of the third of three pages in a note-book used by Cawein.

(Its joy can never dim — With joy that cannot dim — Young as the new moon's rim- Gold as the new moon's rim — One with the cherubim — Born of a moment's whim — No time can ever dim — Born of a girl's wild whim — Its joy can never dim)

A transcription of the lines shown on the opposite page.

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Reduced facsimile of a completed manuscript. This poem was first published as the Proem to Myth and Romance, 1899, and a few years later republished in two of Madison Cawein's other books.

/fn y-'ffy^yK. C-C*!-i -K C-A-M„v

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Reduced facsimile of a completed manuscript. "Caverns" was written in 1898 and shortly thereafter printed in a newspaper or magazine. It was later republished in three of Madison Cawein's books.

Madison C a iv e i n

The thirty-six books by Madison Cawein contain about 2700 poems; about 1500 are distinct originals and about 1200 are either unchanged reprints or changed versions. His original versions comprise the greater part of twenty-five books. The Poems of Madison Cawein, in five large volumes, is a Compilation of his poems — in the original or in a new version — written before 1907. Six books consist chiefly of Selections he made from previous volumes. The Compilation and the various Selections cause many of his poems — some in the original, others in a changed version — to appear two or more times.