BRACERS Record Detail for 17943

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Collection code
RA3
Recent acquisition no.
69
Document no.
000806A
Box no.
2.62
Source if not BR
Texas, U. of, HRC
Recipient(s)
Morrell, Ottoline
Sender(s)
BR
Date
1913/06/12*
Form of letter
ALS(DX)
Pieces
2
Notes and topics

"Thursday night" Will skip inference for the present and go on to constructive part—but not till Sept.

Transcription

BR TO OTTOLINE MORRELL, [12 JUNE 1913]
BRACERS 17943. ALS. Morrell papers #806A, Texas
Proofread by K. Blackwell et al.


Thursday night.1

My Darling Love

Two letters have come from you since I wrote this afternoon. The second especially is such a joy Dearest — it is in answer to the one I wrote after the 9th symphony. — Yes, I feel all that you do about Miss Stawell. I think I too shouldn’t want to see much of her — she lives on such a high plane — I can climb up to it now and then, and am glad to find her there, but I can’t live on it always. And of course she does judge things sentimentally rather than truly. But I didn’t mind the last time I saw her.

I am so sorry you have been having bad headaches Darling. Of course Vittoz would see you had a strong will. I don’t believe he is right about getting up early. — About loneliness: it was more self-reliance I meant really — to go one’s way without thinking of approval or disapproval — It is difficult to me not to be influenced by the feeling that this or that in my work would seem to you trivial if you understood it — but if it doesn’t seem trivial to me I must ignore that. It is not so much a conscious thought, as something that affects one’s instinctive feelings. And of course the mere fact that there is so much of it you can’t understand is a thing one has to learn to ignore. But I do indeed feel that in essence you share all that has any value in me. Only one ought to be independent in spirit of the goods one has, as well as of those one doesn’t have — there is a kind of subjective surrender from which one draws strength. — Yes, do let us read some Inferno — Canto III is a very fine one. I don’t know the Lettres à une Inconnu. — I will inquire about the Yellow Book — I don’t like giving you a pen you have already — it seems like a tip!

Yes, I had Sat. and Sunday of philosophers — it was mostly rather boring. Carr, Haldane, Bosanquet and Rashdall, 4 humbugs in a row at dinner, were a terrible spectacle — all treating everybody with the respect due from those who live in glass houses. Poor Carr perhaps is hardly a humbug, but the others certainly are. — It is interesting about your eyes. I hope the new specs will do good. — Poor circus-rider! He is pathetic. — I doubt if Vittoz would be good for artists. There is something “passive” in waiting for inspiration — if you grow too well-regulated, there is no room for the Spirit to enter. I think they must continue to be Sacred Victims — though perhaps there is room for more sacredness and less victim than in Lamb.a

I went to call on the Rothensteins, because they asked me to dinner to meet Tagore and I wouldn’t go. I only found her. In spite of everything, I always feel her attractiveness, though I mean not to. — I have had a long letter from Goldie from Pekin. I dare say it is very interesting, but so far I have only deciphered a few bits. The Phillimores say what the Webbs really disliked about China was the prevalence of sodomy, which they say destroys the vigour of the population. I wonder if that is true — it is not a point on which I should trust the Webbs.

The impulse to write is quite over for the moment — it will revive when I am rested. But I think I shall skip Inference for the present, and go on to the Constructive part. But that will not be till Sept. — meantime I must think about the other writing.

Goodnight my Darling Darling. My love is always with you.

Your
B

I will write once more to Lausanne, then to Paris. I still can’t quite believe we shall really meet again — it seems 100 years since you went away.

  • 1

    [document] Document 000806A. Proofread against a colour scan of the original.

Textual Notes

  • a

    — though … less victim than in Lamb. inserted

Permission
Everyone
Transcription Public Access
Yes
Record no.
17943
Record created
Sep 26, 1990
Record last modified
Jun 23, 2025
Created/last modified by
duncana