‘Dear Rogers,—Your long-expected letter arrived this morning and
has lost nothing of its sweetness on the road. Praise is delightful, and I hope
it is good for me. I like your notion of compression much. The whole thing is
too long, and that, if there were not other objections, would form a strong one
against any previous description of the individuals. Let me have my MS., for I
have no copy and wish much to show it to my uncle
Ossory, and if possible, to compress it. Mark the parts you
think susceptible of compression with a pencil,
SKETCH OF A POEM | 271 |