2089. EBB to Richard Hengist Horne
As published in The Brownings’ Correspondence, 11, 156–157.
[London]
Saturday. [?8 November] [1845] [1]
I was half inclined to write to you, dear Mr Horne, when your letter arrived– I fancied that you might be vexed with me. Any other reason, though as far from poetry as from logic, should pass easily with me—& now, at last, you write only too goodnaturedly– You are a man of many burdens—that, I know. I am looking out for your romances, day by day.
First of all, however, I must speak of Torquay. My star (if I have not a cloud instead) shone askance more than usual all the time I was there—& I was never able to do more than go out in a chair which almost shook me to pieces—yes, & into the boat, I went several times. And the scenery is beautiful—the hill, dropping down, woods & all, into the bay, .. the flowers forgetting that it is England, & growing, blowing as no English flowers do elsewhere—the verdure perpetual .. the air soft —if not sunny. At the same time, the place has two evils—the east wind & the world .. & those two will dog you body & soul—& people, who make it a point of escaping both, had better shut themselves up in their bedroom as I was forced to do. Your friend will find no solitude, unless she “makes a desolation & calls it peace”: [2] —there is nothing else for her. Moreover the damp is complained of– If she cares for damp she had better not go to Torquay, & if she does not care for it, she had better go to Falmouth .. or to Penzance rather, .. which has more damp but less of that splintering wind, striking betwixt the hills. At Torquay, the best situations for houses are expensive, & the degree of shelter depends on the situation. Perhaps I speak of it all coldly—but I suffered so, that I feel the name of the place (if it is accidentally named) in my blood, [3] at this hour. After all, the country is beautiful; the climate, good for England, & the society, for a watering place. The walks & drives are considered full of variety. You are at liberty to report or show what I have written, of course—& I hope that your friend may have as happy associations with the lovely ‘spot of ground,’ or only half as happy, as mine are miserable. More, cannot be.
<…> [4]
do it at this moment––right or wrong, I cannot.
Thank you, dear Mr Horne, for the sight of your intentions about Shakespeare [5] —& would, that to hear you, were within reach of my chain! I shall hear from your <***>
Publication: None traced.
Manuscript: Armstrong Browning Library.
1. The date is suggested by the reference to Horne’s Ballad Romances, which was advertised as early as 1 November 1845 (in The Examiner). We have placed this letter on the following Saturday.
2. Cf. “ubi solitudinem faciunt, pacem appellant” (“they make a desolation and they call it peace”; Tacitus, Agricola, 30, trans. Maurice Hutton).
3. The emphasis refers, of course, to the death of Bro at Torquay.
4. More than two-thirds of a page has been excised.
5. We are unable to explain this reference, but Horne published several articles and books on Shakespeare, including contributions to The Complete Works of Shakespeare (1857), ed. Barry Cornwall.
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