1470. EBB to Thomas Westwood
As published in The Brownings’ Correspondence, 8, 106–108.
50 Wimpole Street
Dec. 26. 1843.
Dear Mr Westwood,
You think me perhaps, & not without apparent reason, ungrateful & insensible to your letter—but indeed I am neither one nor the other: & I am writing now to try to prove it to you. I was much touched by some tones of kindness in the letter, & it was welcome altogether; and I did not need the ‘owl’ which came after to waken me, because I was wide awake enough from the first moment. And now I see that you have been telling your beads, [1] while I seemed to be telling nothing .. in that dead silence of mine. May all true Saints of Poetry be propitious to the bearer of the Rosary!–
In answer to a question which you put to me long ago on the subject of books of theology, I will confess to you that although I have read rather widely the divinity of the Greek Fathers, Gregory, Chrysostom & so forth, & have of course informed myself in the works generally of our old English divines, Hooker’s, Jeremy Taylor’s & so forth, I am not by any means a frequent reader of books of theology as such, and as the men of our times have made them. I have looked into the Tracts [2] from curiosity & to hear what the world was talking of; & I was disappointed even in the degree of intellectual power displayed in them– From motives of a desire of theological instruction I very seldom read any book except God’s own. The minds of persons are differently constituted; & it is no praise to mine to admit that I am apt to receive less of what is called edification from human discourses on divine subjects, than disturbance & hindrance. I read the Scriptures every day & in as simple a spirit as I can; thinking as little as possible of the controversies engendered in that great sunshine, & as much as possible of the heat & glory belonging to it. It is a sure fact in my eyes, that we do not require, so much, more knowledge, as a stronger apprehension, by the faith & affections, of what we already know.
You will be sorry to hear that Mr Tennyson is not well—although his friends talk of nervousness & do not fear much ultimate mischief. He is said to be at Cheltenham for the present– Well—then,—Wordsworth has written the following lines for poor Southey’s grave stone—& as the public does not yet hold them in its hands, I have fancied that you might like to have them from mine. Behold—
“Ye torrents, foaming down the rocky steeps,
Ye lakes, wherein the spirit of water sleeps,
Ye vales & hills, whose beauty hither drew
The poet’s steps & fixed him here, on you
His eyes have closed! and ye loved books, no more
Shall Southey feed upon your precious lore,—
To works that ne’er shall forfeit their renown
Adding immortal labours of his own—
Whether he traced historic truth, with zeal
For the state’s guidance or the church’s weal;
Or Fancy, disciplined by studious art,
Informed his pen, or wisdom of the heart;
Or judgments sanctioned by the patriot’s mind
By reverence for the rights of all mankind–
Wide were his aims, yet in no human breast
Could private feelings find a holier nest.
His joys, his griefs, have vanished like a cloud
From Skiddaw’s top; but he to Heaven was vowed
Through a long life, and calmed by Christian faith,
In his pure soul, the fear of change & death.” [3]
I am very busy (which is the excuse for my silence) in the preparation for my new publication, but am not, after all, nearly so advanced towards a catastrophe as you yourself are.
This is such a lovely May day, that I am afraid of breaking the spell by writing down Christmas wishes–
Very faithfully yours
Elizabeth B Barrett.
Oh! I forgot to thank you again & again (you see I am ungrateful after all) for your kind desires about gratifying me on the point of the Illustrative Sketches. I might have inferred how impossible a boon I asked—but peradventure my senses happened to [be] wandering that day– [4]
Publication: LEBB, I, 159–160 (in part).
Manuscript: British Library.
1. A reference to the imminent publication of his Beads from a Rosary.
2. Tracts for the Times, a series started in 1833 under the ægis of the Oxford Movement, covered a wide range of theological issues aimed at defending the Church of England against latitudinarian tendencies.
3. These lines appeared in John Bull (25 December, p. 809) and also in The Times (26 December) and The Athenæum (30 December).
___________________
