Tag Archives: gardens

The marks of a reader, such as one imagines for oneself in dreams, thoughtful, critical, and kind

An anonymous review of the Child’s Garden of Verses, appearing in the Pall Mall Gazette for March 1885, gave RLS so much pleasure that he wrote (in the four words, ‘Now who are you?’) to inquire the name of its … Continue reading

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And I have been a Scotchman all my life, and denied my native land!

‘Away with your gardens of roses’: first line of Byron’s ‘Lachin y Gair’ (‘Lochnagar’) in praise of the Highlands. The volume of essays must be Virginihus Puerisque, published the following spring, 1881. The first poem enclosed by RLS will be … Continue reading

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Winter seen from the inside of a warm greatcoat

The ‘Buckinghamshire affair’ refers to RLS’s essay ‘An Autumn Effect’, published in the Portfolio, April and May 1875. Maurice de Guérin (1810-1839) was a French poet and mystic who won recognition after his death with the publication of his Journal … Continue reading

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From islands of spice

In the third week of December 1873, Sidney Colvin goes out to join his friend RLS for a part of the Christmas vacation, and finds him without tangible disease, but very weak and ailing; ill-health and anxiety, however, don’t diminish … Continue reading

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Does it not seem as if things were fluid?

[Dots between square brackets indicate cuts made by Sir Sidney Colvin. For full, correct and critical edition of this letter, see Mehew 1, 168]. To his mother [Colvin 1911, pp. 96-98] Hôtel du Pavillon, Menton, November 13, 1873. My dear … Continue reading

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I am driven forward by restlessness

On the advice of the Lord Advocate it has been agreed that RLS will present himself for admission as a student at one of the London Inns of Court and come to town after the middle of October, 1873, to … Continue reading

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My own autumnal humour

Sidney Colvin publishes only brief excerpts from a very long (and romantic) journal-letter written by RLS to his friend Fanny Sitwell, one of the letters containing a full and intimate record of his daily moods and doings, which he is … Continue reading

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And that from a man cleaning a byre!

The expression ‘’prentice hand’, at the end of the letter, is a quote from the song ‘Green Grow the Rashes’, by Robert Burns, 1783. [Dots between square brackets indicate cuts made by Sir Sidney Colvin. For full, correct and critical … Continue reading

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He has written the most delightful letters in the world

Under Fanny Sitwell’s influence RLS begins to believe hopefully and manfully in his own powers and future. It has been agreed that while still reading for the bar, as his parents desire, he shall try to get ready for publication … Continue reading

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