ST. LOUIS — A previously unpublished poem by Tennessee Williams, described as having been "written out of absolute, complete despair," has been discovered in his blue test booklet from a college course in 1937.
The 17-line poem, titled "Blue Song," has been acquired by Washington University in St. Louis, where Williams, as a student in his mid-20s, plummeted into depression before fleeing the city he said he despised.
The poem, penciled in an exam booklet for his failing Greek class at the university, speaks to "a loss of identity, and absolute, complete despair," said Henry Schvey, the Washington University professor and Williams scholar who found the poem and test booklet last March at Faulkner House Books in New Orleans.
In the poem, originally titled "Sad Song" and still bearing his eraser marks, Williams wrote: "If you should meet me upon a street do not question me for I can tell you only my name and the name of the town I was born in."
Weeks before he found "Blue Song," Schvey, chair of Washington's performing arts department, had directed the world premiere of "Me, Vashya" — a one-act play Williams had written in 1937 for an English class competition — for an international symposium on Williams' early career.
| • | Unpublished Williams poem found in bookstore
Associated Press, Thursday, April 14, 2005 Byline: Cheryl Wittenauer, Associated Press |
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