GE to Frederic Harrison, London, [19 April 1880]
Title
GE to Frederic Harrison, London, [19 April 1880]
Title
GE to Frederic Harrison, London, [19 April 1880]
Sender
George Eliot
Recipient
Frederic Harrison
Date(s)
- 1880-04-19
Place
London
Letter Content
GE to Frederic Harrison, London, [19 April 1880]
MS: Yale. Envelope: Frederic Harrison Esq | 38 Westbourne Terrace | W. Postmarks: ST. JOHNS-WOOD | CX | AP 19 | 80 | N.W; PADDINGTON | Z | AP 19 | 80. Endorsed: A.P. 19.80. Wordsworth. Published: Cross, III, 388-389.
The Priory, | 21. North Bank, | Regents Park.
Monday Morning.
Dear Mr. Harrison
I have found the spot in [The Prelude] where the passage I mentioned occurs. 385 It is in Book VIII 386 -- [The Retrospect] -- towards the end.
"The human nature unto which I felt That I belonged, and reverenced with love, Was not a punctual presence, but a spirit Diffused through time and space, with aid derived Of evidence from monuments, erect, Prostrate, or leaning towards their common rest In earth, the widely scattered wreck sublime Of vanished nations."
The bit of brick-work in the rock is "with aid derived from evidence." I think you would find much to suit your purpose in [The Prelude] -- such as
"There is One great society alone on Earth: The noble Living and the noble Dead." 387
Except for travelling, and for popular distribution, I prefer Moxon's one-volumed edition of Wordsworth to any selection. No selection gives you the perfect gems to be found in single lines, or in half a dozen lines, which are to be found in the "dull" poems.
I am sorry Matthew Arnold has not included 388 the sonnet beginning
"I griev'd for Buonaparte with a vain And an unthinking grief" -- and which has these precious lines --
"Tis not in battles that from youth we train The governor who must be wise and good, And temper with the sternness of the brain Thoughts motherly, and meek as womanhood. Wisdom doth live with children round her knees."
Has he the magnificent sonnet on Toussaint l'Ouverture? 389 I don't know where there is anything finer than the last eight lines of it.
Please don't acknowledge this note -- else you will neutralize my pleasure in sending it by making me feel that I have given you trouble.
Yours very sincerely
M. E. Lewes.
MS: Yale. Envelope: Frederic Harrison Esq | 38 Westbourne Terrace | W. Postmarks: ST. JOHNS-WOOD | CX | AP 19 | 80 | N.W; PADDINGTON | Z | AP 19 | 80. Endorsed: A.P. 19.80. Wordsworth. Published: Cross, III, 388-389.
The Priory, | 21. North Bank, | Regents Park.
Monday Morning.
Dear Mr. Harrison
I have found the spot in [The Prelude] where the passage I mentioned occurs. 385 It is in Book VIII 386 -- [The Retrospect] -- towards the end.
"The human nature unto which I felt That I belonged, and reverenced with love, Was not a punctual presence, but a spirit Diffused through time and space, with aid derived Of evidence from monuments, erect, Prostrate, or leaning towards their common rest In earth, the widely scattered wreck sublime Of vanished nations."
The bit of brick-work in the rock is "with aid derived from evidence." I think you would find much to suit your purpose in [The Prelude] -- such as
"There is One great society alone on Earth: The noble Living and the noble Dead." 387
Except for travelling, and for popular distribution, I prefer Moxon's one-volumed edition of Wordsworth to any selection. No selection gives you the perfect gems to be found in single lines, or in half a dozen lines, which are to be found in the "dull" poems.
I am sorry Matthew Arnold has not included 388 the sonnet beginning
"I griev'd for Buonaparte with a vain And an unthinking grief" -- and which has these precious lines --
"Tis not in battles that from youth we train The governor who must be wise and good, And temper with the sternness of the brain Thoughts motherly, and meek as womanhood. Wisdom doth live with children round her knees."
Has he the magnificent sonnet on Toussaint l'Ouverture? 389 I don't know where there is anything finer than the last eight lines of it.
Please don't acknowledge this note -- else you will neutralize my pleasure in sending it by making me feel that I have given you trouble.
Yours very sincerely
M. E. Lewes.
Signature
M. E. Lewes.
Citation
George Eliot, GE to Frederic Harrison, London, [19 April 1880], Complete George Eliot Letters(2026), George Eliot Archive, edited by Beverley Park Rilett. https://GeorgeEliotArchive.org, Accessed September 7, 2026. https://www.georgeeliotarchive.org/items/show/92388