Letter from Henry to Edward, September 7, 1871

Letter from Henry to Edward, September 7, 1871

Family; Music; Musical instruments; Narcissism; Dreams

Henry writes to Edward after writing to all his other siblings. Henry is excited for a singing book to come out, although he is not much of a singer. Henry recalls a specific time where he found that people did not recognize his talent and he did not get the attention he thought he deserved. He realizes that the highest level of music will most likely not be appreciated by the "uncultivated ears of the promiscuous crowd." Henry then tells Edward about a dream he had with him in it.

Noyes, Henry Varnum

The College of Wooster, Special Collections, Noyes Collection, Box #3

Unpublished

1871-09-07

Council on Library and Information Resources Hidden Special Collections Grant

PDF

eng (English)

Text

noyes_c_cor_704

Canton Sept 7th 1871
My dear Bro Edward
I have just finished a
few foolish sentences to Mary
and now am going to jump
to the other End of the string
of children and write to you
I am waiting with some
degree of impatience for that
singing book to come out not
that I am much of a singer
myself. I do not remember Ever
to have been charged with that
unless it was at Hayesville
when I kept Every string of
the Bass Viol in good order and
played away triumphantly to the
End of the time; when Every other
fiddle in the whole band went to
smash, and failed miserably, and
aside from my Bass Viol nothing Else
was to be heard but the piping of

an old [u]horn[/u] that did'nt
make any music any way,
and had ten times better have
kept still and let the people
near me. That Bass Viol, together
with my own rare presence of
mind in a critical moment
when fiddle strings were snapping
all around me was all that
saved the whole thing from
disgrace. But my laurels have
faded since then, and Even
my success on that occasion
has never seemed to attract
that public notice which I
feel that it deserved. I am
not however the only one who
has been made to feel that the
highest style of music is not
likely to be appreciated by the
uncultivated Ears of the promis-
cuous crowd. But as I said my
laurels have faded and I am now
never seriously charged with being
a musician and Even if the change
were made it could Easily be refuted.

But the next thing to being
a musician one's self is to have
a [u]brother[/u] that [u]is[/u], and this is
my rare privilege. We shall both
be very much obliged for the tunes
you name for us and I
have no doubt they will bear
all the commendation that
your good friend gives them.
You must let us know also
which tune Mr Fisher made
I suppose the initials at least
will be put to the tunes.
Now I guess I must
tell you my dream that I
had last night. I thought
I was at home and there
was some kind of a [?littl?]
local was up at Medina.
Some sort of insurgents, rebels,
had taken possession of a little
fort up there which must be
taken back. A certain number
had to go up from Seville to help
and somehow I had got it into

my head that I was one of
that number. You were already
in Medina one of the regulars.
On the way up I heard that
the attack was to be made the
next night and paltry coward
as I always am in my dreams
I was cogitating as I rode along
how I [--g--] could get out of it. Finally
I bethought myself that I had not
received any [u]official[/u] notice of my
appointment to the honor of being
a soldier, that I had'nt drilled any
and they would not want a [u]raw
recruit[/u] that [u]did'nt understand the
orders[/u], and moreover I felt as the
negro did that the safety of Medina
would do me very little good with
"de bref all knocked out of my body"
and so instead of reporting myself
at the garrison I went to a private
house and found retired quarters in
an upper story in the rear of the building
where I propose to tarry until the
storm was past. I was just however
getting ready to go and make you a call
when I awoke and with some sense of
disappointment and some sense of relief
from myself on my back her in China 12000

[Note: Letter concludes sideways in left margin of page one]
miles from Medina and perfectly safe from any shots that might
be fired there. Now if you feel ashamed of your brother as a soldier you
must fall back on his former reputation as a musician. I must stop. I
am in a writing
[?mood?] this mail
and shall write to
some of the rest.
Your Bro
Henry.



广州 1871 年 9 月 7 日
我亲爱的爱德华兄弟
我刚刚完成了一个
对玛丽说几句愚蠢的话
现在我要跳了
到字符串的另一端
孩子们，写信给你
我和一些人一起等待
对此的不耐烦程度
唱歌书出来不
我是个歌手
我。我不记得曾经
被指控
除非是在海斯维尔
当我保留每一串
Bass Viol 井井有条，
凯旋而归
时间结束；当每隔一个
整个乐队的小提琴去了
粉碎，惨遭失败，并且
除了我的低音提琴，别无其他
是要听到的，但管道

一个没有的旧喇叭
以任何方式制作任何音乐，
并且有十倍的好
保持静止，让人们
靠近我。那个低音提琴，一起
以我自己罕见的存在
关键时刻的心
当小提琴琴弦响起时
我周围都是这样
拯救了整个事情
耻辱。但我的荣誉有
从那以后就消失了，甚至
那次我的成功
似乎从未吸引过
我发布的那个公告
觉得这是应得的。我是
然而并不是唯一一个
已经感觉到
最高风格的音乐不是
很可能会受到赞赏
混杂人群的未开化的耳朵。但正如我所说
桂冠已经褪去，而我现在
从来没有认真地被指控为
一个音乐家，即使改变
做出来很容易被反驳。

但接下来的事情是
一个音乐家的自我
一个兄弟，这是
我难得的特权。我们都要
非常感谢这些曲调
你为我们和我命名
毫无疑问他们会承受
所有的赞扬
你的好朋友给他们。
你也必须让我们知道
费舍尔先生做了什么曲子
我想至少是首字母
将被调上调子。
现在我想我必须
告诉你我的梦想
昨晚有。我想
我在家里和那里
有点像
当地人在麦地那。
某种叛乱分子，叛乱分子，
占有了一点
那里的堡垒必须是
收回。一定数量
不得不从塞维利亚上去帮忙
不知何故我把它弄进去了

我的头，我是其中之一
那个号码。你已经
在麦地那的常客之一。
上楼的时候听说
攻击是
第二天晚上和微不足道的懦夫
就像我一直在我的梦里
我边骑边思考
我怎么能摆脱它。最后
我想我自己没有
收到我的任何正式通知
被任命为荣誉
一个士兵，我没有钻过任何东西
他们不想要生的
不明白的新兵
订单，而且我觉得
黑人这样做是为了麦地那的安全
对我没什么好处
“de bref 都从我的身体里被击倒了”
所以而不是报告自己
在驻军我去了私人
房子和找到退休宿舍
建筑物后面的上层
我建议在哪里停留，直到
暴风雨过去了。我只是
准备去给你打电话
当我醒来并有某种感觉
失望和一些解脱感
从我自己背上她在中国 12000

[注：信件在第一页的左边空白处横向结束]
距离麦地那数英里，绝对安全，远离任何可能的射击
在那里被解雇。现在，如果你为你的兄弟作为一名士兵感到羞耻，你
必须依靠他以前作为音乐家的声誉。我必须停下来。我
我在写作
心情这封邮件
并写信给
其余的一些。
你的兄弟
亨利。

Letter