Be that as it may, the letter and the verses bear the same
stamp, and I can well understand the state of mind they indicate.
* * * * *
"It is not my advice that you have asked as to the direction of your
talents, but my opinion of them, and yet the opinion may be worth little,
and the advice much. You evidently possess, and in no inconsiderable
degree, what Wordsworth calls the 'faculty of verse.' I am not
depreciating it when I say that in these times it is not rare. Many
volumes of poems are now published every year without attracting public
attention, any one of which if it had appeared half a century ago, would
have obtained a high reputation for its author. Whoever, therefore, is
ambitious of distinction in this way ought to be prepared for
disappointment.
"But it is not with a view to distinction that you should cultivate this
talent, if you consult your own happiness. I, who have made literature
my profession, and devoted my life to it, and have never for a moment
repented of the deliberate choice, think myself, nevertheless, bound in
duty to caution every young man who applies as an aspirant to me for
encouragement and advice, against taking so perilous a course. You will
say that a woman has no need of such a caution; there can be no peril in
it for her. In a certain sense this is true; but there is a danger of
which I would, with all kindness and all earnestness, warn you.
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