Talk:A Passionate Pilgrim
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How different are the 1871 and 1908 versions of this tale? Is it just in organization (Two parts and Four parts) or is their significant variety in the test?--Birgitte§β ʈ Talk 03:11, 10 February 2006 (UTC)
There are some fairly significant differences in wording, but no real differences in plot or characterization. One of the nice things about this story is that both versions are online, so you can make a detailed comparison.
For instance, this is the 1908 version of the last paragraph:
We buried him in the little churchyard in which he had expressed the wish to lie; beneath one of the blackest and widest of English yews and the little tower than which none in all England has a softer and hoarier grey. A year has passed; Miss Searle, I believe, has begun to wear colours.
The 1871 version reads:
We buried him in the little churchyard in which he had expressed the wish to lie; beneath one of the mightiest of English yews and the little tower than which none in all England has a softer and older gray. A year has passed. Miss Searle, I believe, has begun to wear colors.
That "mightiest" yew has turned into the "blackest and widest" one, which does make the paragraph a little grimmer. "Hoarier" for "older" isn't very significant, IMO, except as a less overused adjective. The last two sentences are combined, which might make the paragraph a little less choppy. And, of course, James used British spelling in the New York Edition, as he had come to prefer. Casey Abell 17:30, 10 February 2006 (UTC)
