186. Edward Moulton-Barrett (brother) to EBB
As published in The Brownings’ Correspondence, 1, 188–189.
[London]
June 22d 1823.
My ever dearest Bazy
In compliance with your desire I sit down, (though in no great humour for writing,) to fulfill your commands, with respect to the verses. An Hexameter verse consists of ten feet, the four first feet may be either dactyls or spondees the fifth must be a dactyl the last must be a spondee, there must be three cæsuras in every Hexameter verse for instance. “Jura dab|at [1] popu|lis posi|to modo| consul ar|atro. [2] Another, three cæsuras Tytyre tu pat|ulæ recu|bans| sub tegmine fagi[.] [3] H is considered as no letter and therefore another vowel is cut off before it, [4] like two vowels coming together, as “frigida hyems” [5] scans “frigid’ hyems,” M is also cut off as “Sepulchrum horrificum” [6] i e sepulchr’ horrificum, if a vowel precedes two consonants it is long and you may not have a word of more than three syllables at the end of a line. I know not whether you will be able either to understand or even make out this uncorrected scrawl but really when I wrote the former part as far as “sepulchr’ horrificum,” I was so disconcerted by those rheumatic pains in my head that I hardly knew or cared what I wrote accordingly I staid here last night and feel certainly better today though all pain is not quite removed, I expect to go back to Charter House again tommorrow as I shall most likely [be] pretty well recovered by that time. Beautiful Sam [7] is in town, arrived last monday, he looks dreadfully ill and talks of going down into Herefordshire for the purpose of consulting Mr Blizard. [8] We are expecting every day to hear some good news about your coming to London.
Ever believe me my dearest Ba
your truly attached
Brozy.
Addressed and franked by EBB’s uncle on integral page: London June twenty three / 1823 / Miss Barrett / Hope End / Ledbury / S M Barrett.
Publication: None traced.
Manuscript: Eton College Library.
1. Directly above this word, Bro wrote “cæsura” to illustrate what he had said previously.
2. “The consul put aside the plough just to give laws to the people” (Ovid, Fasti, I, 207). In this and the following Latin quotation, the vertical marks are Bro’s own, not editorial additions.
3. “You, Tytyrus, recline in the shade of the wide-spreading beech” (Vergil, Eclogues, I, 1).
4. Bro originally wrote “is cut off before it another vowel.” Then he placed numerals above the words to rearrange them in the order shown here.
5. “Chilly winter.”
6. “Dreadful tomb.”
7. i.e., their cousin Samuel Barrett.
8. Thomas Blizard lived at Donnington Hall, near Ledbury. “No medical man ever gave more time and attention to the Sick & infirm even when paid for their Services” (Biddulph Diary, 22 July 1832, MS at Hereford City Library).
___________________
