Here's a story I heard from a professor of mine: Robert Frost (I love this Eisenstadt photo of him) and Wallace Stevens got into a fistfight in Key West. Stevens said, "Frost, you know the problem with you? You write about 'things.'" And Frost said, "Stevens, you know the problem with you? You write about bric-a-brac.'" And they hit each other. One of them (Stevens?) broke a finger or knuckle and didn't tell his wife where it came from.
This made for a riveting anecdote to the edition of me that existed circa 1996. But now, with Google at my back, I can't verify this story. The closest version I can find corroborates that these words, or a rough approximation, were somehow exchanged, but perhaps without the fisticuffs. Which, to me, make it a better story. Was my professor pulling our collective, gouty leg? Someone, tell me, what's the Honest to Gawd truth?
Posted by nedlog at October 3, 2007 10:13 PM | TrackBack...the story is mythological and can't be verified. The fistfight, if it occurred, was between Stevens and Hemingway - not Frost. I doubt Frost ever stepped foot in Florida, but both Stevens and Hemingway loved Key West and both spent a great deal of time there. The comments between Frost and Stevens are pretty accurate though. The comments were made to third parties though, not face to face. If Stevens and Hemingway went at it, my money would be on Stevens...he was a big man and no pushover. Papa H was a big guy too, but probably had a few more beers in him than Stevens.
Posted by: johnny on November 2, 2007 11:40 PM...the story is mythological and can't be verified. The fistfight, if it occurred, was between Stevens and Hemingway - not Frost. I doubt Frost ever stepped foot in Florida, but both Stevens and Hemingway loved Key West and both spent a great deal of time there. The comments between Frost and Stevens are pretty accurate though. The comments were made to third parties though, not face to face. If Stevens and Hemingway went at it, my money would be on Stevens...he was a big man and no pushover. Papa H was a big guy too, but probably had a few more beers in him than Stevens.
Posted by: johnny on November 2, 2007 11:41 PMI bet you're right on that last point. I can't even imagine Stevens drinking beer. Maybe sherry?
Posted by: Mike on November 2, 2007 11:45 PMah, the sweatypits of apocraphy. I live in manhattan now.
Posted by: doug on November 4, 2007 6:35 PMDoesn't matter if it's true. Apocryphal will do. Might as well be true. Fiction is an improvement on life, as C.B. said. These may not be facts, but they shed light on a greater truth than one can find with facts.
Posted by: Mark Laskowski on December 13, 2007 9:19 AM