Janet Anchondo, Nonfiction Editor, on essay by Ed Simon and one of Pearl Curran & Patience Worth’s novel (Hope Trueblood)
What is a good reason to spook the living? Whether to haunt your frenemy, seek revenge, or simply look after your loved ones- these are all justifiable reasons to return from the afterlife, right? It’s always fun to speculate about ghosts and to allow ourselves to wonder about things that are beyond our comprehension. With all due interest for the unknown and speculation of the afterlife, this week’s DiN showcase is about occult inspired American literature. Now, we might ask what does the occult- or ghosts- have to do with the academic seriousness and contemplation of American literature? Well, to begin answering this question I’d like to start by telling about the encounter that pushed this interest forward; and--No! --unfortunately, it's not a story about encountering some kind of manifestation. This is a real story- so to speak- about a phantom who inspired the work of a writer.
The other day I came across Ed Simon’s essay called “Ghost Writer and Ghost: The Strange Case of Pearl Curran & Patience Worth”. It pierced my boundless interest for discovering new female writers. To my astonishment the case of Pearl Curran, a novel and poetry writer whose work seems to almost be forgotten, claims to have befriended a spirit while playing the Ouija board back in the early 20th century. What is interesting about Pearl Curran is that she attributes her work to a dead puritan woman from the 17th century- none other than- Patience Worth. Whether you question this to be a hoax or not, I will leave it up to you to decide.
With regards to this collaborative dual, lets think about the content that originated from this peculiar fact. First, Ed Simon points out that Curran’s work received a considerable amount of recognition and audience attention. Though it can be said that fame was mainly fixed on the famously professed collaboration of Patience Worth- Curran’s spirit friend. Still, Simon urges us to not overlook the proficient quality and genius unconventional aspects of Curran’s work, simply for the institutionalized commotion that surrounds it. The following is a snippet from Curran’s Hope Trueblood introduction; it is the first time Curran remarks that Worth communicates this to her with a less Puritan dialect:
On an evening, two weeks after the completion of The Sorry Tale, its invisible author [Worth] gave to Mrs. Curran the following lines on the nameless waif:
What art thou? A sinful thing.
Builded up of what? Sinister, hidden, wishes,
Broken throths, folly-love;
Broken hearts, heavy, heavy hearts;
Empty days, days of waiting, sunless days.
Thou wast a night, a dreaded night!
Thou wast the sign of sin.
Manlooketh upon thee and turneth him away,
Nor doth womankind smile upon thee,
But draw their cloak of virtue close,
And hide within it. They shut their eyes.
They hide from thee. They cast their pence
To build hideous walls to shut thee away... (Curran, iii)
To continue reading the entirety of Hope Trueblood visit: https://archive.org/details/hopetrueblood00wort/page/n5/mode/2up
In this novel, like in other of Curran’s literary pieces, we can notice how the presence of Patience Worth is made known to readers. Its phenomenal how the audience is brought into setting, where we can somehow witness the obscure Ouija interaction between both Worth and Curran. In terms of Curran's writing style it has been compared to Emily Dickinson, while Worth's puritan style and dialect has been seen to align with Anne Bradstreet. Unfortunately, Curran's time period and affiliation with the occult downplayed the literary value of her pieces. Especially, since the “Colonial American writings [had been] long dismissed as embarrassing anti-intellectual relics by great nineteenth-century authors like Ralph Waldo Emerson and Nathaniel Hawthorne” (Simon, para. 4). Furthermore, it’s important to mention that Simon argues against the unfair approach that many (academic, writers, intellectuals, critics) had adopted in the past, as for analyzing Curran’s work and the extraordinary hoax that surrounded it. Recently, many critics and scholars have began to revisit the literary works that have been set aside for a long time. If you are interested in learning more, Simon’s essay is such a great source that dives into the historical and literature reflections of Curran’s work. He invites us to question the canon’s standards for assessing Curran’s work as material that celebrates a form of American identity.
Ed Simon’s essay: https://publicdomainreview.org/essay/ghostwriter-and-ghost-the-strange-case-of-pearl-curran-patience-worth
Still reluctant to believe in Patience Worth's existence? Well, Simon suggests that we think about her as Curran’s muse, someone that “provides an occasion for thinking about where inspiration comes from, how authors generate their writings, and the ways in which something as seemingly well understood as writing still contains a kernel of mystery at its core” (para. 7). Like many iconic writers who have used muses to breathe amusement and knowledge into the world, we can agree that Curran's talent is inspiring and worth being recognized in American literature. Nonetheless, I believe that Patience Worth is deserving of being remembered, and what better way than through the Halloween spirit. So, lets appreciate Patience Worth as a spirit friend, friendly-ghost, invisible collaborator, muse, or a myth that we can contemplate when we think of Pearl Curran.
Other Curran/Worth pieces:
The Pot upon the Wheel- https://archive.org/details/potuponwhee00wort/page/6/mode/2up
Telka: An Idyl of Medieval England- https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39076005033613&view=thumb&seq=1
A Sorry Tale; a Story of the Time of Christ- https://archive.org/details/sorrytaleastory00yostgoog/page/n27/mode/2up
Selected Poetry- http://www.patienceworth.org/patienceworthpoems_008.htm
Work Cited
Worth, Patience (spirit), and Pearl L. Pollard Curran. “Hope Trueblood.” americana, New York, H. Holt and company, 1918, pp.iii.
Simon, Ed. “Ghostwriter and Ghost: The Strange Case of Pearl Curran & Patience Worth.” Essays, 17 Sep. 2014, The Public Domain Review, https://publicdomainreview.org/essay/ghostwriter-and-ghost-the-strange-case-of-pearl-curran-patience-worth
Janet Anchondo is one of DiN's nonfiction editors. She is a full-time student at New Mexico State University (NMSU) majoring in General English.
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