1411. Thomas Westwood to EBB
As published in The Brownings’ Correspondence, 8, 9–11.
Enfield Chase.
Octr. 23rd 1843.
You have written me, dear Miss Barrett, a very kind & delightful letter, & I need not tell you how more than pleased I am, that any song of mine has pleased you. It is not often that I have the heart to write now– I love poetry of a higher order too well, to look upon my own with any complacency; & it is sad up-hill work after wandering through the rich “paradise of dainty devices” [1] that I find elsewhere to cultivate, or even tolerate the buttercups & dandelions, which are the sole produce of my own garden– I have one inducement, however, to write, & that is in itself a strong one—though I seldom please myself, there are a few dear home-faces, which do look pleased, when I manage to exh[o]rt a verse, & believing that that is the only fame, except the fame of great usefulness, which really warms the heart, I am satisfied.
Woe is me! What a dilemma am I in– On my table yonder, lies a parcel, with this inscription “The Legend of the brown Rosary, in 14 designs,” & yet must I perforce be illnatured & spiteful enough to refuse to let you see them– I will tell you why—they are so completely artist’s designs– So rough, & vague, & unsatisfying that I am sure you would consider them, as I do myself, <at least in their present state—> [2] desecration of the beauty they profess to embody. That this is really my opinion of them I will show you by a quotation from a letter I received the other day. “Poorly as I thought you would receive the sketches I sent, I had hardly calculated on the lack of praise they obtained—“one of the figures is graceful”—oh miserable one! Now I know that I could have worked up all those designs into great finish.”– I include the last assertion because it contains a germ of hope, which I hope a short time will suffice to expand. Should that be the case, & I can prevail upon him to make careful copies of them, or even part of them, they shall be sent you forthwith & I have great hope, that when he hears you have expressed a wish to see them, his pleasure at the wish, will furnish him with the required stimulus—the one graceful figure I selected for my scanty praise, was that of Lenora, when
“she stood on the floor
Calm & still as the moonlight that came there before,
With a smile just beginning.” [3]
The Margret, I have not seen, nor do I wish to see it, for I am very sure that the “It’[’] would be an insuperable obstacle in any hands—& I cannot bear to see a glorious Conception, marred by a parody– I am glad you do not think me altogether wrong about Tennyson. I have lent the volumes but will not forget to read the poem you mention when they return– Alas! “The Two Voices,” was written, if I mistake not, many years ago– I should have better hope had it been one of his latest poems. [4] But even setting the responsibilities of his office aside, is it not vexatious to see him waste himself on such ready-made subjects as the “Sleeping Beauty,[”] for beautifully as he has remoulded it was scarcely possible to make it more beautiful than the original,—if it be the original which I have seen translated from the German—a volume, I think collected by Grimm. Surely it would be much better to work upon his own Creations– [5]
I am going to accuse you of malice prepense—for what could be more malicious than to tell me you had reviewed Wordsworth, & not explain where. Such a pile of Athenæums, I lugged down, & looked over, but could find nothing with your stamp upon it– Do tell me, if it be not a great secret, where I am to look for it– [6]
I know you must be fond of theological works—will you tell me when you write again, whether you know anything of one of our modern divines, Melvill—& whether you have read his University Sermons– [7] If not, I think they would please you; he stands out in rather bold relief from the mediocrities of the day–
I wish, dear Miss Barrett, instead of my meaningless commonplaces, I could send you health in a letter—what a large packet I would make of it! You should soon be able to climb the Brocken to achieve reality instead of a vision. It brought a mist over my eyes (ought I to be ashamed to own it), that concluding portion of your note—& knowing what I do, I cannot but marvel more & more & rejoice in the like measure, that you are able to write so cheerfully, & that in all that you have written, there is not one single morbid, unhealthy line– I should scarcely have thought it possible even for domestic affection & religious trust to have upheld you thus. May the ivy flourish! if I had any interest in the court of Fairyland, I would seek out some merry, willing, warmhearted little fay—who should make his home amongst the leaves, & in the pauses of their music—he should never silence that—regale you with all sorts of pleasant, far-away country sounds—& never leave his post, except to fetch you the sweet pastoral scent of the new mown hay, & the odours of the flowers, before the sun had stolen their freshness, but wishes—wishes—alas they are sad empty things & yet, too often they are the only utterance which the kindliest feeling can command. Are you a reader of Charles Lamb? This was his room .. yonder is his chair—& here it was that the last essays of Elia were brought to life—would I could find some portion of his inspiration lurking amongst the dust atoms of the room, or between the leaves of the old books. He was the best of good Creatures– I owe him a deep debt of gratitude, & love to own it but it was my great misfortune when too young at the time to value the intimacy as it deserved. [8]
Pray do not quiz me, dear Miss Barrett for this interminable letter, but if you find it wearisome, read alternate lines, & I dare say you will still manage to extract its little meaning. Believe me to be
Very sincerely yours—
T. Westwood–
P.S.
Flossy sends compliments to Flush, & begs me to enclose an imaginary maccaroon–
Address: Miss E. B. Barrett / 50 Wimpole St. / London.
Publication: None traced.
Manuscript: Armstrong Browning Library.
1. The Paradyse of Dainty Devises, published in 1576, was a compilation by Richard Edwards (1523?–66) of works by minor poets of the sixteenth century.
2. Bracketed passage is inserted above the line.
3. “The Legend of the Browne Rosarie,” I, xv, 3–5, slightly misquoted. EBB changed “Lenora” to “Onora” when the poem was reprinted in Poems (1844).
4. “Two Voices” was, however, published for the first time in Tennyson’s 1842 Poems.
5. The original version of the Sleeping Beauty story was “La Belle au Bois Dormant,” by Charles Perrault (1628–1703), published in Contes de ma Mère l’Oye (1697). An English translation by Robert Samber appeared in 1729. “Dornröschen,” the version by the brothers Grimm, was published in 1812. Tennyson’s poem on the subject was included in his Poems (1842).
6. EBB’s review was printed in the issue of 27 August 1842 (no. 774, pp. 757–759).
7. There is no publication by Melvill with this title. Editions of sermons preached “before the University of Cambridge” appeared in 1836, 1837, 1839 and 1840; Westwood may be referring to any or all of these.
8. The Last Essays of Elia, by Charles Lamb (1775–1834), appeared in 1833. Lamb and his sister Mary had boarded with the Westwoods at Enfield Chase in 1829–33, at which time Thomas, Jr. was still in his teens.
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