University of Virginia Library

Virginia ("single torn leaf") Recto

This entry in Man Collecting, p. 23, unfortunately suffers from two mistakes. The first, a typographical error, has confused it with the entry above it, a 5-page carbon typescript of "The Lilacs" dated 1925. In fact, this "single torn leaf," though its size is uncertain due to an uneven rip across its full width (it could be either 11 x 8½ inches or 14 x 8½ inches, both of which would be consistent with other drafts in the series), contains pencil versions on both sides. The second mistake is one of attribution of the material. The editors state that the sheet contains "experimental versions of the third, seventh and last stanzas." Actually, the recto consists of versions of the third, fifth, and sixth stanzas; the verso contains an unchanged version of the seventh stanza. The complete poem has nine stanzas. Thus, the entry should read: "'The Lilacs.' Autograph manuscript, 2 pages (on recto and verso of a single torn leaf) in pencil. Experimental versions of the third, fifth, sixth and seventh stanzas."

The first unfinished stanza on this page actually contains the first four lines of stanza 3 of the first "complete" pencil draft.

The second stanza on this sheet, with two major deletions ('said James' in the first line and 'at night' in the third), one minor alteration ('nor' for

'or' in line four) and two additions in transposing this to the first "complete" pencil draft ('far thin sky to stalk' in the ninth line and the addition of one completely new antepenultimate line) becomes the fifth stanza of the poem. Note again how Faulkner has opted to delete reference to his personae by name; in this case, James, the motor salesman.

The third stanza on this page represents the first of at least four separate attempts to finalize what became stanza 6 of the poem. The first five lines of this version are carried over intact, except for punctuation changes in the second line, into the first "complete" pencil draft.