Copyright © 2019 by Ed Folsom and Kenneth M. Price, all rights reserved. Items in the Archive may be shared in accordance with the Fair Use provisions of U.S. copyright law. Redistribution or republication on other terms, in any medium, requires express written consent from the editors and advance notification of the publisher, Center for Digital Research in the Humanities. Permission to reproduce the graphic images in this archive has been granted by the owners of the originals for this publication only.
I cannot ask of one whom I admire so much the favor below stated without enclosing some compensation, which, if you cannot accept you may use for "sweet charity's sake" in any manner your dear heart prompts.
I go straight to my subject. Do not call me an autograph fiend. I do not approach you in a roundabout way but simply ask if you will, kindly, at your leisure, write me out on good paper, one side only, so that I may frame it with your portrait for my library walls, what you consider one of your best shorter poems, and kindly sign and date. Is this asking too much?