Bibliographic Information
The Baroness' poems and papers are contained in the Archives and Manuscripts Department at the University of Maryland Libraries. Complete papers cover the period from 1917-1933 and consist of manuscripts, drafts, notes, correspondence, drawings and photographs.
Textual transcription and analysis of the seven poems encoded here were undertaken in Fall 2003 by graduate students in William H. Sherman's English 601 class, "Literary Research and Critical Contexts."
Text editing of "Thistledownflight" was performed by Helen Lucille DeVinney.
The handwriting is her typical use of majuscule letters, and the letters themselves are slightly larger than her standard print. It is presented as a visual poem; the Baroness has taken pains to add her own artistic decorations to the paper. Her use of the page is sparse, and the layout of the words themselves is artistic. The placement of the line groupings is irregular, and, in the case of the final word “Thistledownflight,” she arranges the word itself in an artistic way. Interestingly, the poem is unsigned, as are each of the subsequent drafts.
In some cases her handwriting seems to be slightly different in the corrections, but this alone is not enough to determine that the revisions occurred at another time. Her arrangement suggests that the poem was beginning to take shape: certain words or lines are clearly grouped and begin to suggest the arrangement of 2r/2v [Version 2]. She clearly leaves room for possibility....In 4r/4v [Version 4] we see the appearance of the later title "Thistle down flight," which are also the last lines of the poem. This version seems to precede 3r/3v [Version 3]; in 3r/3v we see the adoption of the title "Thistledownflight," as well as the arrangement and corrections of some of her revisions in 4r/4v.
Published by Special Collections, University of Maryland Libraries.
University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742 2004Researchers can gain access to the Papers of Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven in the Maryland Room, Hornbake Library, University of Maryland Libraries, College Park, MD 20742
"Thistiledownflight" manuscripts located in Series III, Box four, Folder 11; microfiche id numbers 5/920-5/927, 5/969.
Special Collections at the University of Maryland provides more information about the microfilm edition of the papers.
Images and manuscripts drafts of this poem may not be reproduced or downloaded and used on another site without the explicit permission of UMD Archives. They may not be reproduced or downloaded and used on another site without the explicit permission of UMD Archives. Though the intellectual property of Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven is in the public domain, all annotations and editorial commentary are copyrighted.
DTD constructed from TEI poetry base with tagsets for linking, figures, analysis, transcr, textcrit.
Textual Notes
