858. EBB to Hugh Stuart Boyd
As published in The Brownings’ Correspondence, 5, 138–140.
50. Wimpole Street
Oct 2d 1841
My very dear friend,
I thank you for the letter & books which crossed the threshold of this house before me, & looked like your welcome to me home. I have read the passages you wished me to read—I have read them again: for I remember reading them under your star (or the greater part of them) a long while ago. You on the other hand, may remember of me, that I never could concede to you much admiration for your Gregory as a poet [1] —not even to his grand work De virginitate. He is one of those writers of whom there are instances in our own times, who are only poetical in prose.
The passage imitative of Chryses, I cannot think much of. Try to be forgiving. It is toasted dry between the two fires of the Scriptures & Homer [2] —& is as stiff as any dry toast out of the simile. To be sincere, .. I like dry toast better.
The Hymns & Prayers I very much prefer; & although I remembered a good deal of them, it has given me a pleasure you will approve of, to go through them in this edition. The one which I like best, which I like far best, which I think worth all the rest (De virginitate & all put together) is the second upon page 292, beginning Soi charis. [3] It is very fine I think—written out of the heart & for the heart,—warm with a natural heat, & not toasted dry & brown & stiff at a fire, by any means.
Dear Mr Boyd, I coveted Arabel’s walk to you the other day. I shall often covet my neighbour’s walks, [4] I believe, although (& may God be praised for it) I am more happy, that is, nearer to the feeling of happiness now, than a month since I could believe possible to a heart so bruised & crushed as mine has mine. [5] To be at home is a blessing & a relief beyond what these words can say.
But—dear Mr Boyd,—you said something in a note to Arabel some little time ago, which I will ask of your kindness to avoid saying again. I have been through the whole summer very much better,—& even if it were not so, I should dread being annoyed by more medical speculations & consultations. Pray do not suggest any. I am not in a state to admit of experiments—and my case is a very clear & simple one. I have not one symptom like those of my old illness—& after more than fifteen years absolute suspension of them, their recurrence is scarcely probable. My case is very clear—not tubercular consumption—not what is called a “decline”,—but an affection of the lungs which leans towards it. You know a blood vessel broke three years ago—& I never quite got over it. Mr Jago not having seen me, could scarcely be justified in a conjecture of the sort; when the opinions of four able physicians, two of them particularly experienced in diseases of the chest, & the other two the most eminent of the faculty in the east & west of England, were decided and contrary, while coincident with each other. Besides you see I am becoming better—and I could not desire more than that. Dear Mr Boyd, do not write a word about it any more, either to me or others. I am sure you would not willingly disturb me. Nelly Bordman is good & dear, but I cant let her prescribe for me anything except her own affection.
I hope Arabel expressed for me my thankful sense of Mrs Smith’s kind intention. But indeed—although I would see you dear Mr Boyd, gladly, or an angel or a fairy or any very particular friend, I am not fit either in body or spirit for general society. I cant see people—and if I could, it would be very bad for me. Is Mrs Smith writing? [6] Are you writing? Part of me is worn out; but the poetical part,—that is, the love of poetry,—is growing in me as freshly & strongly as if it were watered every day. Did anybody ever love it & stop in the middle? I wonder if anybody ever did.
My dear friend, I remember your once telling me that you were at a loss sometimes for objects of charity—that you would sometimes gladly give if you knew to whom. I do therefore take the liberty of apprizing you of the melancholy circumstances under which Mrs Hopkins (Cousins) [7] is at present. She is very industrious—& unexceptionable as a wife & mother—but her husband is so involved in debt, that all her struggles cannot rescue herself & her poor little children from a state of deep poverty. She knows nothing of my resolve to mention it to you—and I do so, simply as friend to friend, & out of compassion & sympathy, .. because I am sure that if you can give her anything it will be a gift to the much-afflicted. Nevertheless you will of course do as you think best—& not through courtesy to me. When do you expect Annie?
Believe me
Your affectionate
EBB–
Address: H S Boyd Esqr / 21 Downshire Hill / Hampstead.
Publication: EBB-HSB, pp. 241–243.
Manuscript: Wellesley College.
1. In 1831, EBB had written: “Gregory is not a great poet, scarcely a real poet” (Diary, p. 105).
2. When Lyrnessus was taken by Achilles, Chryseis, wife of the King of Lyrnessus and daughter of the priest Chryses, was taken captive, becoming part of the spoils of war claimed by Agamemnon. The Iliad opens with Chryses begging Agamemnon to free Chryseis and being scornfully refused.
3. We have not been able to identify the specific edition to which EBB refers. The poem in question is Gregory Nazianzen’s Poemata Dogmatica, 34 (MPG, 37, 515).
4. Cf. Deuteronomy, 5:21.
5. Sic, for “mine has been.” The mistake is indicative of EBB’s lifelong distress whenever she thinks or speaks of Bro’s death.
6. Mary Ann (Mrs. Richard) Smith had edited volumes II and III of the biography of her father, Boyd’s friend, Dr. Adam Clarke. At this time, she might have been engaged in preparatory work on The Life of the Rev. H. Moore, Including … the Continuation Written by … Mrs. R. Smith (1844).
7. Not identified.
___________________
