I can’t stop thinking about you, how when we were young you showed me a long list of plays you meant to write when you grew up. I remember laughing at you when you told me you’d be a famous poet one day. Do you remember the ridiculous way you’d close your eyes when you were thinking? We all thought you’d gone blind!
Now I am the one to be ashamed. It’s my turn to apologize. When they all told you to stop dreaming and do something practical with your life—“Apprentice yourself to a turner!”, “Go into carpentry!”, “Learn a trade!”—I shouldn’t have joined in. When you went away to find a different path—when you walked the streets of Copenhagen, homeless—I didn’t know. Nobody knew you’d actually become its most famous citizen.
It’s true nobody ever thought you were beautiful. They made fun of your big nose, your lanky limbs, your poor frayed jacket so outgrown you couldn’t even stand up straight without revealing that embarrassing waist. But you were our Ugly Duckling, our wishful Little Mermaid, our sensitive Princess and the Pea who could feel every intonation of human experience.
You have come so far, suffered so much. You never stopped striving, even if it meant going back to grammar school to be humiliated amongst children who were hardly half your height! How did you do it, Hans? How could you stand it when your own teacher told you that “your verse will end as waste paper…and you in a lunatic asylum”?
All that is now forgotten, dear Hans. For now your tales have mesmerized the world. Your works are loved by children and adults in every culture in the world. Thank you for believing in yourself when nobody else did. It has turned into a great gift to humanity for which we shall always be indebted.
Sincerely,
Your Loving Friend and Most Adoring Fan
The Works of Hans Christian Andersen
Hans Christian Andersen’s Life (in Picture Books)
Go on a Literary Tour of Copenhagen, Denmark, discover 11 Things To Do on Hans Christian Andersen’s Birthday, and learn about Queerness, Hans Christian Andersen, and the Little Mermaid.
