Spring Phantoms

From 1993-2001, Robert Alexander was a contributing editor at New Rivers, where he founded the Marie Alexander Poetry Series. He has published three books of prose shorts and two of creative nonfiction. This is the sixth literary anthology he has edited.

“Short prose—whether it takes the various forms of the prose poem, flash fiction, parable, or fable—has been well chronicled in recent anthologies, but Spring Phantoms offers a necessary and new historical take on the subject. In choosing his examples Robert Alexander has been guided more by the “narrative possibilities” of short prose than by what a modern author might call his or her version of it. More important, with this anthology, once and for all, readers come upon a vibrant short prose tradition in 19th century English and American letters that was not beholden to the French or Russian traditions. We might call it an exploratory prose driven by a strong narrative impulse—that is, the desire to tell a little story. There are so many gems in this anthology by both well-known and underappreciated writers that readers will want to have Spring Phantoms close by, to randomly dip into its pages as they would a fine, and very large, box of chocolates.” —Peter Johnson, editor of The Prose Poem: An International Journal “If you want to understand why flash fiction has become such a popular literary form, read Spring Phantoms, an eclectic anthology of 19th-century short prose by British and American writers, which reveals that the art of compression is part of our literary DNA. From William Blake to Walt Whitman, Kate Chopin, Edith Wharton, Stephen Crane, and many lesser-known writers rescued from oblivion, we see why less is indeed more. All praise to Robert Alexander for his careful excavation of these treasures.” —Christopher Merrill, author of Self-Portrait with Dogwood “Robert Alexander has done all aficionados of the short form a great service by collecting in one volume prose poems, sketches, and brief musings of some of Britain’s and America’s finest writers and strongest voices. These “little tastings” from the nineteenth century give us a look not just into literary history but into some of our collective historical concerns. With illuminating bio sketches providing context to the prose selections, this is a welcome contribution to the study of the roots of short prose.” —Tara Lynn Masih, editor of The Rose Metal Press Field Guide to Writing Flash Fiction and Founding Series Editor of The Best Small Fictions

• ContentsRobert AlexanderSpring Phantoms: A Brief IntroductionWilliam Blake, 1757–1827 from The Marriage of Heaven and HellLeigh Hunt, 1784–1859A “Now,” Descriptive of a Hot DayHenry R. Schoolcraft, 1793–1864, and Jane Johnston Schoolcraft, 1800–1842 [trans.]Peeta Kway, The Foam-Woman: An Ottawa LegendLeelinau: A Chippewa Tale Richard H. Horne, 1802–1884The Old Churchyard Tree: A Prose PoemRalph W. Emerson, 1803–1882Woods: A Prose SonnetNathaniel Hawthorne, 1804–1864from Sketches from Memoryfrom The American NotebooksEdgar A. Poe, 1809–1849Shadow—A ParableHarriet Jacobs, 1813–1897from Incidents in the Life of a Slave GirlHenry David Thoreau, 1817–1862from The Journalfrom WalkingWalt Whitman, 1819–1892from Specimen DaysJourdon Anderson, 1825–1907Letter from a Freedman to His Old MasterDante Gabriel Rossetti, 1828–1882The Cup of WaterMichael Scott’s WooingMary Mapes Dodge, 1831–1905Our VegetablesMigratory HusbandsAda Clare [Jane McElhenney], 1834–1874The Slave of the HouseCelia Thaxter, 1835–1894from An Island GardenElizabeth Stuart Phelps, 1844–1911How Shall Women Dress?Mary P. Thacher [Higginson], 1844–1941Passenger PigeonsEmma Lazarus, 1849–1887By the Waters of Babylon: Little Poems in ProseKate Chopin, 1850–1904Ripe FigsAn Idle FellowThe Story of an HourThe Night Came SlowlyLafacadio Hearn, 1850–1904The StrangerSpring PhantomsRobert Louis Stevenson, 1850–1894from FablesGrace King, 1852–1932The BalconyMary E. Wilkins [Freeman], 1852–1930Pastels in ProseOscar Wilde, 1854–1900The ArtistThe Doer of GoodThe DiscipleOlive Schreiner, 1855–1920from DreamsFiona Macleod [William Sharp], 1855–1905from The Silence of AmorAlcée Fortier, 1856–1914 [trans.]The TortoiseThe Devil’s MarriageJames G. Huneker, 1857–1921Nuptials RoyalMary Alicia Owen, 1858–1935 [compiler]How the Skunk Became the Terror of All Living CreaturesCharlotte Perkins Gilman, 1860–1935An Extinct AngelDesertedPrisons for AnimalsEdith Wharton, 1862–1937The Valley of Childish Things, and Other EmblemsFlorence A. Merriam [Bailey], 1863–1948from Birds through an Opera GlassRobert W. Chambers, 1865–1933from The Prophets’ ParadiseBruce Porter, 1865–1953The Return of SpringGelett Burgess, 1866–1951The Adjective FamilyThe Mutual Advice AssociationThe Confessions of a YellsterErnest Dowson, 1867–1900from Decorations in ProseStephen Crane, 1871–1900The Judgment of the SageThe Seaside Hotel HopHow the Donkey Lifted the HillsJ. M. Synge, 1871–1909from Translations from Petrarch: Sonnets from “Laura in Death”Harrison G. Rhodes, 1871–1929SketchesDora Greenwell McChesney, 1871–1912At Old Italian CasementsMax Beerbohm, 1872–1956A Good PrinceSamuel P. Carrick, 1873–1930A Geological ParableYone Noguchi, 1875–1947from The Summer Cloud: Prose PoemsZitkála-Šá (Gertrude Simmons Bonnin), 1876–1938from Impressions of an Indian ChildhoodLord Dunsany [Edward Plunkett], 1878–1957from Time and the GodsHolly Iglesias Biographical SketchesBibliographic Notes