The Something That Comes to the Widow Holly: The Men from the Polar Star

The Something That Comes to the Widow Holly: The Men from the Polar Star

This contribution explores the variations of the short story “The Coming of Something to the Widow Holly” published by New Directions in 1953. A folder at the Ransom Center in Austin, Texas titled “The Men from the Polar Star,” holds the pages for an unfinished story with the same Widow Holly. There...

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Hovedforfatter: Kaplan, David
Format: Article ou chapitre numérique
Sprog:Anglais
Udgivet: Journal of the Short Story in English 2026
Online adgang:Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM
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spelling openedition-oai:revues.org:jsse_5213 en https://journals.openedition.org/jsse/5213 2026-07-17T02:00:00Z info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess article info:eu-repo/semantics/article urn:handle:20.500.13089/16lch https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ The Something That Comes to the Widow Holly: The Men from the Polar Star Journal of the Short Story in English Presses universitaires de Rennes info:eu-repo/semantics/reference/issn/1969-6108 info:eu-repo/semantics/reference/issn/0294-0442 URI:https://journals.openedition.org/jsse Kaplan, David This contribution explores the variations of the short story “The Coming of Something to the Widow Holly” published by New Directions in 1953. A folder at the Ransom Center in Austin, Texas titled “The Men from the Polar Star,” holds the pages for an unfinished story with the same Widow Holly. There is also a related poem dated 1938 titled “Exalted,” published here for the first time. Reviewing the unfinished story of the Widow Holly and related poetry reveals that Williams was drafting (but never publishing) his own Apocrypha to Christian dogma, something hinted at in the published story by a roasting apple, a holiday tradition for celebrating the Advent of Christ. “Blue Roses and The Polar Star,” another related story by Williams, found in the archives at Harvard, concerns the miraculous child of a prostitute named “Blue Roses” begotten by the captain of a ship with sails named The Polar Star. The displacement of imagery throughout the three stories and related poetry demonstrates a consistent mythic vision whose forms shift shape but remain in essence the same: Williams has the presumption to be writing the creation story of a second Christ. Cet article explore les différentes versions de la nouvelle “The Coming of Something to the Widow Holly”, publiée par New Directions en 1953. Un dossier conservé au Harry Ransom Center d’Austin, au Texas, intitulé “The Men from the Polar Star”, contient les feuillets d’un récit inachevé mettant en scène la même Widow Holly. On y trouve également un poème connexe daté de 1938, intitulé “Exalted”, publié ici pour la première fois. L’examen de la nouvelle inachevée sur la veuve Holly et du poème qui s’y rapporte révèle que Williams élaborait (sans jamais les publier) son propre apocryphe du dogme chrétien, ce à quoi fait allusion, dans la nouvelle publiée, une pomme rôtie, tradition festive célébrant l’Avènement du Christ. “Blue Roses and The Polar Star”, une autre histoire connexe de Williams, trouvée dans les archives de Harvard, concerne l’enfant miraculeux d’une prostituée nommée “Blue Roses”, engendré par le capitaine d’un navire à voiles nommé The Polar Star. Le déplacement des images à travers les trois récits et les poèmes associés témoigne d’une vision mythique cohérente dont les formes changent mais restent fondamentalement les mêmes : Williams a la prétention d’écrire l’histoire de la création d’un second Christ.
collection OpenEdition Journal
language Anglais
format Article ou chapitre numérique
building 0/Bibliothèque numérique/
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description This contribution explores the variations of the short story “The Coming of Something to the Widow Holly” published by New Directions in 1953. A folder at the Ransom Center in Austin, Texas titled “The Men from the Polar Star,” holds the pages for an unfinished story with the same Widow Holly. There is also a related poem dated 1938 titled “Exalted,” published here for the first time. Reviewing the unfinished story of the Widow Holly and related poetry reveals that Williams was drafting (but never publishing) his own Apocrypha to Christian dogma, something hinted at in the published story by a roasting apple, a holiday tradition for celebrating the Advent of Christ. “Blue Roses and The Polar Star,” another related story by Williams, found in the archives at Harvard, concerns the miraculous child of a prostitute named “Blue Roses” begotten by the captain of a ship with sails named The Polar Star. The displacement of imagery throughout the three stories and related poetry demonstrates a consistent mythic vision whose forms shift shape but remain in essence the same: Williams has the presumption to be writing the creation story of a second Christ.
author Kaplan, David
spellingShingle Kaplan, David
The Something That Comes to the Widow Holly: The Men from the Polar Star
author_facet Kaplan, David
author_sort Kaplan, David
title The Something That Comes to the Widow Holly: The Men from the Polar Star
title_short The Something That Comes to the Widow Holly: The Men from the Polar Star
title_full The Something That Comes to the Widow Holly: The Men from the Polar Star
title_fullStr The Something That Comes to the Widow Holly: The Men from the Polar Star
title_full_unstemmed The Something That Comes to the Widow Holly: The Men from the Polar Star
title_sort something that comes to the widow holly: the men from the polar star
publisher Journal of the Short Story in English
publishDate 2026
container_title URI:https://journals.openedition.org/jsse
url https://ezproxy.univ-orleans.fr/login?url=https://journals.openedition.org/jsse/5213
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