The Three Devils, within Essays Biographical and Critical: Chiefly on English Poets

The Three Devils, within Essays Biographical and Critical: Chiefly on English Poets

Masson, David

Cambridge: Macmillan & Co., 1856. Essays Biographical and Critical: Chiefly on English Poets. pp. 53-87

HathiTrust

1856

"Thursday 15. Mr Tugwell returned the call. In the afternoon we walked to Lee, a delicious spot in a deep hollow between two magnificent hills. The steep sides of one of these hills are hung with low woods, or with masses of furze now in full bloom. The primroses here quite cover the sides of some of the hills as well as the banks of the lanes. Not the least beautiful things we saw were the springs by the roadside, crystally clear, decked with liverwort and fern. We returned by a different way- through Slade, which we were told was only half a mile longer, but we found ourselves in an interminable road over the hills, and at length came to a spot where two directions seemed equally promising or unpromising of Ilfracomb. We took one, however, in the necessity of a choice and walked on and on without seeing any indication of our being in the right direction , till at last we came to a farm-house, where G. made inquiries and found that we were in the right road, but had still two miles to walk. We got home a little before six, after walking three hours and a half, and were thoroughly knocked up. In the last mile we passed a lovely hill where the rich colour of the marly soil made a beautiful contrast with the bright green pastures and the masses of furze. - In the evenings I have been reading Masson's Essays - "The Three Devils" and Chatterton's Life-and this evening I have read some of Trench's Calderon." Diary 1854-1861 60-61

Masson, David, The Three Devils, within Essays Biographical and Critical: Chiefly on English Poets, George Eliot's Reading, George Eliot Archive, edited by Beverley Park Rilett. https://GeorgeEliotArchive.org, Accessed September 7, 2026. https://www.georgeeliotarchive.org/items/show/57465

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