855. EBB to Mary Russell Mitford
As published in The Brownings’ Correspondence, 5, 132–133.
[London]
Sept. 24. 1841
Oh my stupidity, to have left out Mr Haydon’s letters! Here they are.
Do you know the poor Laureate’s full desolation? Do you know that his wife, Caroline Bowles, & his beloved children have quarrelled—are at variance—& that the latter have left his roof? They visit him occasionally—claiming their filial rights! Oh what a picture! What a picture! And he unconscious either of love or hate, in the midst of them!– All gone but life—and life springing up like a wallflower from a ruin—strong & green as a weed—and to last! Poor poor Southey!—— Mr Kenyon told me of it—& that he was more likely to live than ever. [1] Say how you both are.
Flush has made friends with all my brothers, & enjoys his new gaiety very much—only preferring my society to everybody’s & keeping near me as a prudent precaution.
Your most affectionate
EBB–
Publication: EBB-MRM, I, 280–281.
Manuscript: Wellesley College.
1. Southey’s first wife had died insane in 1837. Despite his own failing faculties, Southey re-married in 1839, his second wife being Caroline Anne Bowles (1786–1854); her stepchildren apparently detested her (DNB). Within three months of the marriage, Southey’s health had seriously declined, and he gradually became insensible to externals. The last year of his life was “a mere trance” (DNB); he died on 21 March 1843.
___________________
