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222
A New England Girlhood, Outlined from Memory (Beverly, MA)
·
Lucy Larcom
220
I
could
not
stay
at
the
West.
It
was
never
really
home
to
me
there,
and
my
sojourn
of
six
or
seven
years
on
the
prairies
only
deepened
my
love
and
longing
for
the
dear
old
State
of
Massachusetts.
I
came
back
in
the
summer
of
1852,
and
the
unwritten
remainder
of
my
sketch
is
chiefly
that
of
a
teacher's
and
writer's
experience;
regarding
which
latter
I
will
add,
for
the
gratification
of
those
who
have
desired
them,
a
few
personal
particulars.
While
a
student
and
teacher
at
the
West
I
was
still
writing,
and
much
that
I
wrote
was
published.
A
poem
printed
in
"Sartain's
Magazine,"
sent
there
at
the
suggestion
of
the
editor
of
the
"Lowell
Offering"
was
the
first
for
which
I
received
remuneration--five
dollars.
Several
poems
written
for
the
manuscript
school
journal
at
Monticello
Seminary
are
in
the
"Household"
collection
of
my
verses,
among
them
those
entitled
"Eureka,"
"Hand
in
Hand
with
Angels,"
and
"Psyche
at
School."
These,
and
various
others
written
soon
after,
were
printed
in
the
"National
Era,"
in
return
for
which
a
copy
of
the
paper
was
sent
me.
Nothing
further
was
asked
or
expected.
The
little
song
"Hannah
Binding
Shoes"--written
immediately
after
my
return
from
the
West,--was
a
study
from
life--though
not
from
any
one
life--in
my
native
town.
It
was
brought
into
notice
in
a
peculiar
way,--by
my
being
accused
of
stealing
it,
by
the
editor
of
the
magazine
to
which
I
had
sent
it
with
a
request
for
the
usual
remuneration,
if
accepted.
Accidentally
or
otherwise,
this
editor
lost
my
note
and
signature,
and
then
denounced
me
by
name
in
a
newspaper
as
a
"literary
thiefess;"
having
printed
the
verses
with
a
nom
de
plume
in
his
magazine
without
my
knowledge.
It
was
awkward
to
have
to
come
to
my
own
defense.
But
the
curious
incident
gave
the
song
a
wide
circulation.
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