The Letters of Ambrose Bierce, With a Memoir by George Sterling

by Ambrose Bierce

I've a lovely birch stick a-seasoning for you—cut it up in the Alleghanies.

* * *

Sincerely yours, Ambrose Bierce.

Washington, D. C.,
October 29,
1903.

Dear George,

I return the verses—with apology for tardiness. I've been "full up" with cares.

* * *

I would not change "Religion" to "Dogma" (if I were you) for all "the pious monks of St. Bernard." Once you begin to make concessions to the feelings of this person or that there is no place to stop and you may as well hang up the lyre. Besides, Dogma does not "seek"; it just impudently declares something to have been found. However, it is a small matter—nothing can destroy the excellence of the verses. I only want to warn you against yielding to a temptation which will assail you all your life—the temptation to "edit" your thought for somebody whom it may pain. Be true to Truth and let all stand from under.

Yes, I think the quatrain that you wrote in Col. Eng's book good enough to go in your own. But I'd keep "discerning," instead of substituting "revering." In art discernment carries reverence.