Eugene Field, a Study in Heredity and Contradictions — Volume 2

Slason Thompson

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• Publié par: uslea
• Publié le: 08 décembre 2010
• Nombre de lectures: 48
• Langue: English

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Contradictions, by Slason Thompson
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Title: Eugene Field, A Study In Heredity And Contradictions
Author: Slason Thompson
Release Date: July 22, 2004 [EBook #12985]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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LITTLE BOY BLUE
The little toy dog is covered with dust
But sturdy and stanch he stands,
And the little toy soldier is red with rust
And his musket moulds in his hands.
Time was when the little toy dog was new
And the soldier was passing fair,
And that was the time when our Little Boy Blue
Kissed them and put them there.
"Now, don't you go till I come," he said,
"And don't you make any noise!"
So, toddling off to his trundle-bed,
He dreamt of the pretty toys.
And, as he was dreaming, an angel song
Awakened our Little Boy Blue—
Oh! the years are many—the years are long—
But the little toy friends are true!
Aye, faithful to Little Boy Blue they stand—
Each in the same old place,
Awaiting the touch of a little hand,
The smile of a little face.
And they wonder—as waiting the long years through
In the dust of that little chair—
What has become of our Little Boy Blue
Since he kissed them and put them there.
EUGENE FIELD
A STUDY IN HEREDITY AND CONTRADICTIONS
By
SLASON THOMPSON
With Portraits, Views and Fac-Simile Illustrations
VOLUME II
Published, December, 1901
Charles Scribner's Sons
New York
1901
CONTENTS
Chapter Page
I. PEDIGREE 1
II. INTRODUCTION TO COLORED INKS 15
III. SOME LETTERS 44
IV. MORE LETTERS 71
V. PUBLICATION OF HIS FIRST BOOKS 107
VI. HIS SECOND VISIT TO EUROPE 138
VII. IN THE SAINTS' AND SINNERS' CORNER 169
VIII. POLITICAL RELATIONS 198
IX. HIS "AUTO-ANALYSIS" 234
X. LAST YEARS 261
XI. LAST DAYS 297
APPENDIX 321
INDEX 341
ILLUSTRATIONS
DRAWINGS AND FAC-SIMILES
ORIGINAL TEXT OF "LITTLE BOY BLUE" Frontispiece
With drawings in colors by Eugene Field.
THE LITTLE DRESS-MAKER
23
From a drawing by Eugene Field.
A PROPER SONET
26
From a drawing in colors by Eugene Field.FIELD AND BALLANTYNE AWAITING THE
ARRIVAL OF A BISCUIT FROM NEW BRUNSWICK 27
From a drawing by Eugene Field.
THE GOOD KNIGHT SLOSSON'S CASTLE
29
From a drawing by Eugene Field.
A TRAGEDY IN FIVE ACTS
30, 31From drawings by Eugene Field.
HOW MARY MATILDA WON A PRINCE:

From drawings by Eugene Field.
THE PRINCE ASKING EDDIE MARTIN ABOUT THE
38
FAIR MARY MATILDA
THE PRINCE'S COAT-OF-ARMS—
FLIGHT OF THE FAIR MARY MATILDA— 40
THE AGGRAVATING MIRAGE
BROTHER SLOSSON AND HIS OTHER FRIEND 42
EN ROUTE TO THE WEDDING
A STAMP ACCOUNT 57
AN ECHO FROM MACKINAC ISLAND
58
With drawings by Eugene Field.
A BOWLING CHALLENGE FROM EUGENE FIELD 75
A LETTER FROM EUGENE FIELD CONTAINING
78
THREE DRAWINGS
FIELD'S PORTRAIT OF HIMSELF
"As I would have looked but for the refining influence 88
of Old Nompy."
A SCENE IN THE DAILY NEWS OFFICE
99
From a drawing by Eugene Field.
PAGE OF ADVERTISEMENTS FROM "CULTURE'S
111
GARDEN"
"THE ALLIAUNCE" 124
SKETCH AND EPITAPH
168
From a drawing by Eugene Field.
OFF TO SPRINGFIELD
201
From a drawing by Eugene Field.
HALF-TONE PLATES
Facing Page
ROSWELL FIELD 142
FIELD THE COMEDIAN 254
EUGENE FIELD WITH HIS DUTCH RING 302
EUGENE FIELD
CHAPTER I
OUR PERSONAL RELATIONSIn the loving "Memory" which his brother Roswell contributed to the "Sabine
Edition" of Eugene Field's "Little Book of Western Verse," he says:
"Comradeship was the indispensable factor in my brother's life. It was strong in
his youth: it grew to be an imperative necessity in later life. In the theory that it is
sometimes good to be alone he had little or no faith." From the time of Eugene's
coming to Chicago until my marriage, in 1887, I was his closest comrade and
almost constant companion. At the Daily News office, for a time, we shared the
same room and then the adjoining rooms of which I have spoken. Field was
known about the office as my "habit," a relationship which gave point to the
touching appeal which served as introduction to the dearly cherished manuscript
copy, in two volumes, of nearly one hundred of his poems, which was his
wedding gift to Mrs. Thompson. It was entitled, in red ink, "Ye Piteous Complaynt
of a Forsooken Habbit; a Proper Sonet," and reads:
Ye boone y aske is smalle indeede
Compared with what y once did seeke—
Soe, ladye, from yr. bounteous meede
Y pray you kyndly heere mee speke.
Still is yr. Slosson my supporte,
As once y was his soul's delite—
Holde hym not ever in yr. courte—
O lette me have hym pay-daye nite!
One nite per weeke is soothly not
Too oft to leese hym from yr. chaynes;
Thinke of my lorne impoverisht lotte
And eke my jelous panges and paynes;
Thinke of ye chekes y stille do owe—
Thinke of my quenchlesse appetite—
Thinke of my griffes and, thinking so,
Oh, lette me have hym pay-daye nite!
Along the border of this soulful appeal was engrossed, in a woful mixture of
blue and purple inks: "Ye habbit maketh mone over hys sore griffe and mightylie
beseacheth the ladye yt she graunt hym ye lone of her hoosband on a pay-daye
nite."
Through those years of comradeship we were practically inseparable from the
time he arrived at the office, an hour after me, until I bade him good-night at the
street-car or at his own door, when, according to our pact, we walked and talked
at his expense, instead of supping late at mine. The nature of this pact is related
in the following verse, to which Field prefixed this note: "While this poem is
printed in all the 'Reliques of Ye Good Knights' Poetrie,' and while the incident it
narrates is thoroughly characteristic of that Knightly Sage, the versification is so
different from that of the other ballads that there is little doubt that this fragment is
spurious. Prof. Max Beeswanger (Book III., page 18, old English Poetry) says that
these verses were written by Friar Terence, a learned monk of the Good Knight's
time."
THE GOOD KNIGHT TO SIR SLOSSON
The night was warm as summer
And the wold was wet with dew,
And the moon rose fair,
And the autumn air
From the flowery prairies blew;
You took my arm, ol' Nompy,And measured the lonely street,
And you said, "Let's walk
In the gloom and talk—
'Tis too pleasant to-night to eat!"
And you quoth: "Old Field supposin'
Hereafter we two agree;
If it's fair when we're through
I'm to walk with you—
If it's foul you're to eat with me!"
Then I clasped your hand, ol' Nompy,
And I said: "Well, be it so."
The night was so fine
I didn't opine
It could ever rain or snow!
But the change came on next morning
When the fickle mercury fell,
And since, that night
That was warm and bright
It's snowed or it's rained like—well.
Have you drawn your wages, Nompy?
Have you reckoned your pounds and pence?
Harsh blows the wind,
And I feel inclined
To banquet at your expense!
The "Friar Terence" of Field's note was the Edward J. McPhelim to whom
reference has already been made, who often joined us in our after-theatre
symposiums, but could not be induced to walk one block if there was a street-car
going his way.
As bearing on the nature of these "banquets," and the unending source of
enjoyment they were to both of us, the following may throw a passing light:
Discussing great and sumptuous cheer
At Boyle's one midnight dark and drear
Two gentle warriors sate;
Out spake old Field: "In sooth I reck
We bide too long this night on deck—
What, ho there, varlet, bring the check!
Egad, it groweth late!"
Then out spake Thompson flaming hot:
"Now, by my faith, I fancy not,
Old Field, this ribald jest;
Though you are wondrous fair and free
With riches that accrue to thee,
The check to-night shall come to me—
You are my honored guest!"
But with a dark forbidding frown
Field slowly pulled his visor down
And rose to go his way—
"Since this sweet favor is denied,
I'll feast no more with thee," he cried—
Then strode he through the portal wideWhile Thompson paused to pay.
Speaking of "the riches that accrued" to Field it may be well to explain that
when he came to Chicago from Denver he was burdened with debts, and
although subsequently he was in receipt of a fair salary, it barely sufficed to meet
his domestic expenses