2 P.M.—Thermometer 38. Somewhat cloudy at first . . . (Journal, 13:95-96).

  Dear Sir,

  I send you with this a letter of introduction to Ticknor & Fields, as you request; though I am rather remote from them.

  I think that your poem was well calculated for our lyceum, and the neighboring towns, but I would advise you, if it is not impertinent, not to have it printed, as you propose. You might keep it by you, read it as you have done, as you may have opportunity, and see how it wears with yourself. It may be in your own way if printed. The public are very cold and indifferent to such things, and the publishers still more so. I have found that the precept “Write with fury, and correct with flegm” required me to print only the hundredth part of what I had written. If you print at first in newspapers, you can afterward collect survives [survivors?] — what your readers demand. That, I should say, is the simplest and safest, as it is the commonest, way. You so get the criticism of the public, & if you fail, no harm is done.

  You may think this harsh advice, but, believe me, it is sincere.

Yrs truly
Henry D. Thoreau