Manuscript Poem "Theme with Few Variations", Later Published as "Last Chance Motel"

Kensington, California, 1990. 21.5 x 14 cm. Manuscript poem in black ink on the letterhead of poet Leonard Nathan; signed "Nathan" and dated "Nov. 1990". Two tiny discolored areas at the head of the sheet and folded once horizontally. The author of seventeen volumes of poetry, Leonard Nathan was an award-winning poet and professor of rhetoric as UC Berkeley until his retirement in 1991, as well as a collaborator with the author Czeslaw Milosz. This manuscript is an early version of what was later published as 'Last Chance Motel' in the Kansas Quarterly and then in his 1998 book 'The Potato Eaters'. One can see in this draft of the poem that Nathan originally created stanzas of six lines each, which he later honed to five lines by the time it was published eight years later. A fascinating look at the revision and creative process of an award-winning poet. . Signed by Author. Loose Leaves. Near Fine.