Correspondence

2643.  EBB to Hugh Stuart Boyd

As published in The Brownings’ Correspondence, 14, 85–86.

[Pisa]

Dec. 21. [1846] [1]

You must let me tell you my dearest Mr Boyd, that I dreamed of you last night & that you were looking very well in my dream, & that you told me to break a crust from a loaf of bread which lay by you on the table .. which I accept on recollection as a sacramental sign between us, of peace & affection. Was’nt it strange that I should dream so of you? Yet no!—thinking awake of you the sleeping thoughts come naturally. Believe of me this Christmas-time as indeed at everytime, that I do not forget you, & that all the distance & change of country can make no difference. Understand too (for that will give pleasure to your goodness) that I am very happy, & not unwell,—though it is almost christmas. It is a little cold just now .. but, until these few days, I have been walking out every morning, & sitting out of doors in the sun, and I hope not to lose much strength by the temporary change of weather– Even now, the sun shines so hotly, as to inconvenience the walkers in it,—and I thankfully admit that the climate, upon the whole, is more qualified to do me good, than I had been led to hope.

Does Arabel go to see you properly, .. that is, frequently? It is a grief to me that she should be treated coldly on my account; and the injustice is rampant, as she knew nothing, you know, of the marriage. For myself, I am wounded, .. yet feel myself justified, both by the hardness there, & the tenderness here. Completely spoilt & happy, I may write myself down. Now, everything I ever said to you of my husband, seems cold & inadequate. He is my compensation for the bitterness of life, as God knows & knew.

Dearest friend—are you well & in good spirits? Think of me over the Cyprus, between the cup & the lip .. though bad things are said to fall out so. We have, instead of Cyprus, Montepulciano, the famous “King of wine,” crowned King, you remember, by the grace of a poet! [2] Your Cyprus, however, keeps supremecy over me, & will not abdicate the divine right of being associated with you. I speak of wine—but we live here the most secluded, quiet life possible,—reading & writing & talking of all things in Heaven & earth & a little besides, .. & sometimes even laughing as if we had twenty people to laugh with us—or rather .. had’nt. We know not a creature, I am happy to say, .. except an Italian professor (of the university here) who called on us the other evening & praised aloud the scholars of England. “English Latin was best” he said, “and English Greek foremost.” Do you clap your hands?

The new pope [3] is more liberal than popes in general, and people write odes to him in consequence.

Robert is going to bring out a new edition of his collected poems, and you are not to read any more, if you please, till this is done. I heard of Carlyle’s saying the other day “that he hoped more from Robert Browning, for the people of England, than from any living English writer” [4] ——which pleased me of course. I am just sending off an anti-slavery poem [5] for America .. too ferocious, perhaps, for the Americans to publish: but they asked for a poem & shall have it.

If I ask for a letter, shall I have it, I wonder? Remember me & love me a little—& pray for me, dearest friend, and believe how gratefully & ever affectionately

I am your Elibet–

.. Though Robert always calls me Ba, & thinks it the prettiest name in the world!!! Which is a proof, you will say, not only of blind love but of deaf love– I hope Jane is well—& your Toby besides. Flush has grown insolent, & barks when he wants a door opened. Do you see Nelly Bordman? She has been very affectionate to me.

Address, on integral page: H S Boyd Esqre / 24 (a) Grove End Road / St John’s Wood.

Publication: EBB-HSB, pp. 282–283.

Manuscript: Wellesley College.

1. Year determined from the Brownings’ residence in Pisa in December 1846.

2. Francesco Redi, Bacco in Toscana (1685), line 972.

3. Giovanni Maria Mastai-Ferretti, Pius IX (1792–1878), known as “Pio Nono,” ascended the papal throne shortly after the death of Gregory XVI in June 1846. He began his papacy by granting a general political amnesty and called for a spiritual revival in the various religious orders. These early liberal acts identified him as a reformer, and EBB joined those who hoped that he would offer moral leadership for the national movement, but he was unable to meet demands quickly or broadly enough. EBB’s early optimism for his attempts at progress soon gave way to disenchantment and disappointment.

4. See letter 2630, note 10.

5. See note 1 in the following letter.

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