By Guy D. Garcia

He gave the poems as a gift to his future wife Estelle Franklin 63 years ago, but William Faulkner was never able to publish the 88-page, hand-bound collection. Vision in Spring was eventually misplaced and nearly forgotten until 1979, when Faulkner Scholar Judith Sensibar, of Chicago, stumbled on a photocopy of the book in the attic of the writer's daughter Jill Faulkner Summers. Sensibar's find will be published by the University of Texas Press next month. Faulkner's opinion of himself as "a failed poet" is unlikely to be challenged by the volume's 14 linked poems (sample: "The wind grows louder about me, shrill with pain,/ And blows the petalled faces from my heart"). But scholarly assessments of the novelist are already being revised to include a deepened appreciation of the poetic influences on his prose style.

When it came to squashing a grapefruit in some dame's face, no one could be more hard-boiled than Actor James Cagney. He is still pretty tough, but Cagney, 84, got misty-eyed in Washington last week, when he was one of 14 honored with the Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian award. The President got a little sentimental himself, saying, "As a great star at the same studio where I started [Warner Bros.], he was never too busy to hold out a hand to a young fellow just trying to get under way." Gee, a good guy all the time.

They have practiced their roles for a lifetime. And now in Aurora, filming in Italy, Edoardo Ponti, 11, is making his acting debut opposite his magnificent mama Sophia Loren, 49. Naturally, the lad plays Loren's offspring in the movie, which--to keep things in the family--is being produced by his father Carlo Ponti, 70. How did the little cherub do, Mama? "He looks like an angel, but he's really like a devil," says Edoardo's glamorous costar. "Already he criticizes my acting." Meanwhile, the Pontis are working on plans for another family project: a new home on Williams Island, a $1 billion resort venture in North Miami for which the couple are creative consultants. "I can bring some of Italy here and combine it with American comfort," says Loren. La dolce vita in stereo.

Smiling happily, King Hussein, 48, hailed the moment as one that "will be recorded in the history of Jordan." But the first visit of Queen Elizabeth, 57, to the Hashemite kingdom had very nearly been canceled by an explosion 200 yards from the British embassy in Amman two days before her departure. The trip went on only after a reassuring phone call from the Jordanian King about the security precautions. Indeed, after arriving at Amman in her jet, which was equipped with antimissile devices, the Queen and Prince Philip, 62, were whisked around with such speed and caution that few average Jordanians got much of a glimpse. Politically, though, Arabs were pleased (and Israelis miffed) by her Foreign Office-prepared statement pledging that Britain would support "a just and lasting solution to the tragedy that has befallen the Palestinian people."

When Veteran Photographer Eddie Adams, 50, was offered a chance to accompany Parade Magazine Reporter Tad Szulc, 57, to Cuba for an exclusive interview with President Fidel Castro, 57, he eagerly accepted. But "el jefe maximo" kept the pair waiting in their hotel for two weeks, and they finally flew back to New York, though not before Adams had angrily given every Cuban official he could find a good piece of his mind. A few days later, the journalists were called back to Havana. This time Cuba's mercurial leader was in a more obliging mood, allowing Adams to photograph him during a duck hunt (he bagged 76) at his country retreat outside Havana. "I heard you had a nasty temper," Castro said to the photographer at dinner later. "Why haven't I seen it?" Replied Adams: "Because now I've got the pictures." --By Guy D. Garcia