The Prat Sisters: Free Spirits of the 1890s

"'Flower of the Rose' [was] written by B.C. [Bliss Carman] for me when I sent him a rose from our garden at Wolfville," Annie later wrote. She refers to a prose poem written by Bliss Carman and published in The Independent, New York, 1890. Carman published it under the pseudonym, 'Louis Norman,' in memory of his infant brother who died in 1865. In a letter to Annie Prat, dated May 5, 1941, William Inglis Morse thanked Annie for her help with the Bliss Carman Bibliography, including sending a photograph of Carman and supplying "confidential information." Morse mentions that he is using initials of correspondents, in order "not to get too personal." In some cases, such as this letter to Annie, Morse edited out the name of the correspondent entirely.
Annie's note about the poem and Morse's letter at Esther Clark Wright Archives, Acadia University (Harry Starr accession no. 1990-006). Bliss Carman's original letter to Annie appears to be no longer extant.

Date: Published in William Inglis Morse, Bliss Carman Bibliography (Windham, Conn., 1941)

Reference: Nova Scotia Archives  PS8455 A72 Z7, p. 50-51