Show Rival Claims Two years later Joyce heard the poem Solitude recited and when some one asked who wrote it the colonel declared that he had written it in the Galt Gait house in Louisville Ky back in 1861 When Mrs Wilcox heard of this she immediately denied his claim Joyce continued to assert that the poem was his but ignored her challenge to prove it His book A uA Checkered Life LUe written in 1883 contained 23 poems but Solitude was not among them In a later l ter edition n of the book he inserted the poem but retained the copyright date of 1883 He also published the poem as a song whereupon Mrs Wil Wil- Wilcox Wilcox Wilcox cox began suit against the John Church company music dealers of Cincinnati for alleged viola viola- violation violation tion of the copyright law The suit never came to trial According to Mrs Wilcox she dropped it upon the advice of friends Joyce pointed to the fact that the suit was dismissed for want of prosecution and that the costs were assessed against Mrs Wilcox as acknowledgment of his authorship Later Mrs Wilcox of of- offered offered to give to any charitable Z 7 l y J h cc k institution which Joyce might name the sum of in his name if he would produce an uan copy ot of any period period- periodical periodical periodical ical or paper containing the poem under discussion prior to February February ary 1883 Although Joyce never accepted the challenge to the day of his death he continued to assert that he was tho the original author of at Solitude Mrs Wilcox was equally positive that the honor belonged to her and und popular be be- belief belief belief lief seems to confirm her claim t t S |