Wind the clock

Here’s a letter from E.B. White to, it would seem, a one-off correspondent in despair — despair over the state of the world, I would guess. I heard Martha Barnette read this letter in an episode of the podcast A Way with Words. Look past the patriarchal language — it was 1973. And if this letter strikes you as sappy, tough bananas. From Letters of E.B. White, ed. Dorothy Lobrano Guth (1976):

                                            North Brooklin, Maine
                                            30 March 1973

Dear Mr. Nadeau:

As long as there is one upright man, as long as there is one compassionate woman, the contagion may spread and the scene is not desolate. Hope is the thing that is left to us, in a bad time. I shall get up Sunday morning and wind the clock, as a contribution to order and steadfastness.

Sailors have an expression about the weather: they say, the weather is a great bluffer. I guess the same is true of our human society — things can look dark, then a break shows in the clouds, and all is changed, sometimes rather suddenly. It is quite obvious that the human race has made a queer mess of life on this planet. But as a people we probably harbor seeds of goodness that have lain for a long time, waiting to sprout when the conditions are right. Man’s curiosity, his relentlessness, his inventiveness, his ingenuity have led him into deep trouble. We can only hope that these same traits will enable him to claw his way out.

Hang on to your hat. Hang on to your hope. And wind the clock, for tomorrow is another day.

                                            Sincerely,

                                            E. B. White

Two details: I notice that White says “all is changed,” not “all is well,” because the weather will undoubtedly change again. And I like the way he turns the blithely reassuring “Tomorrow is another day” into something more literal: another day is coming, so wind the clock and be prepared.

[The Elements of Style, third edition (1979): “The use of he as pronoun for nouns embracing both genders is a simple, practical convention rooted in the beginnings of the English language. He has lost all suggestions of maleness in these circumstances.” Fourth edition (2000): “The use of he as a pronoun for nouns embracing both genders is a simple, practical convention rooted in the beginnings of the English language. Currently, however, many writers find the use of the generic he or his to rename indefinite antecedents limiting or offensive.” Both editions suggest that the writer try he or she, or make nouns plural, or use he if that makes sense, or use she if that makes sense. No singular they in The Elements, before or after White’s death.]