Critical Essay | Critical Essay by Mary S. Mattfield

Critical Essay by Mary S. Mattfield

SOURCE: “Thoreau's Poem #189: An Emended Reading,” in The CEA Critic, Vol. 33, No. 1, November 1970, pp. 10-12.

In the following essay, Mattfield maintains Thoreau could not have intended many of the spellings that appear in his original “Poem #189,” and suggests a revised version of the poem.

“Poem No. 189”

For though the caves were rabitted,                                         And the well sweeps were slanted, Each house seemed not inhabited                                         But haunted.

The pensive traveler held his way,                                         Silent & melancholy, For every man an ideot was,                                         And every house a folly.

Version Used in Anthology

For though the caves were rabbited                                         And the well sweeps were slanted, Each house seemed not inhabited                                         But haunted.

The pensive traveller held his way,                                         Silent and melancholy, For every man an idiot was,                                         And every house a folly.

Suggested Revision

For though the eaves were rabbeted                                         And the well sweeps were slanted, Each house seemed not...
(read more)