Lot Content
![HEMINGWAY, Ernest (1899-1961). Autograph manuscript signed of the poem "A Modern Version of Polonius' Advice." [N.p., ca. 1920]. 1 page, 4to, in dark ink on lined notebook paper, edges frayed touching a word or two, silked, 28 lines, with a change in the title (from "Paraphrase on Polonius' Advice"), a revision of the last line, and a few other emendations in pencil, signed "Ernest Hemingway" at top.](https://www.christies.com/img/LotImages/2000/NYR/2000_NYR_09548_0077_000(021832).jpg?w=1)
Details
HEMINGWAY, Ernest (1899-1961). Autograph manuscript signed of the poem "A Modern Version of Polonius' Advice." [N.p., ca. 1920]. 1 page, 4to, in dark ink on lined notebook paper, edges frayed touching a word or two, silked, 28 lines, with a change in the title (from "Paraphrase on Polonius' Advice"), a revision of the last line, and a few other emendations in pencil, signed "Ernest Hemingway" at top.
A VIRTUALLY UNPUBLISHED HEMINGWAY POEM
This darkly satiric poem, a parody of Polonius's speech to his son in Hamlet, begins: "Give thy tongue no tho'ts Nor ever think before you speak, Lest folks suspecium [sic] that thou art a highbrow. Those friends thou has that keep their purse strings tied, Beware and shun them most decidedly..." It ends with ironic lines about President Woodrow Wilson and World War I: "So when men ask thy views on matters Politic, Think not but spill this forth: 'Thank God for Wilson! It's he who kept us out of War.'" Only the first five lines of the poem have been published: in Ernest Hemingway, Complete Poems, edited by Nicholas Gerogiannis, Revised Edition, Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1992, no. 12. Gerogiannis could not locate this manuscript -- the only one known -- and took his quotation from an auction catalogue description (see following). Provenance: Jonathan Goodwin (sale, Part II, Sotheby Parke Bernet, 25 October 1977, lot 415).
A VIRTUALLY UNPUBLISHED HEMINGWAY POEM
This darkly satiric poem, a parody of Polonius's speech to his son in Hamlet, begins: "Give thy tongue no tho'ts Nor ever think before you speak, Lest folks suspecium [sic] that thou art a highbrow. Those friends thou has that keep their purse strings tied, Beware and shun them most decidedly..." It ends with ironic lines about President Woodrow Wilson and World War I: "So when men ask thy views on matters Politic, Think not but spill this forth: 'Thank God for Wilson! It's he who kept us out of War.'" Only the first five lines of the poem have been published: in Ernest Hemingway, Complete Poems, edited by Nicholas Gerogiannis, Revised Edition, Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1992, no. 12. Gerogiannis could not locate this manuscript -- the only one known -- and took his quotation from an auction catalogue description (see following). Provenance: Jonathan Goodwin (sale, Part II, Sotheby Parke Bernet, 25 October 1977, lot 415).
Sale Room Notice
The leaf is not silked but has been professionally tissue-laminated.
