The Life and Correspondence of Robert Southey
Robert Southey to John May, 3 January 1813
“Keswick, Jan. 3. 1813.
“My dear Friend,
“Many happy new years to you, and may those which are
to come prove more favourable to you in worldly concerns than those which are
past! I have been somewhat unwell this Christmas; first with a cold, then with
a sudden and unaccountable sickness, which, however, has not returned, and I
now hope I have been physicked into tolerable order. The young ones are going
on well: little Isabel thrives, your
god-daughter is old enough to figure
at a Christmas dance, and Herbert will
very soon be perfect in the regular Greek verb. A Testament is to come for him
in my next parcel, and we shall begin upon it as soon as it arrives. No child
ever promise I better, morally and intellectually. He is very quick of
comprehension, retentive, observant, diligent, and as fond of a book and as
impatient of idleness as I ![]()
| 6 | LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE | Ætat. 39. |
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am. Would that I were as well
satisfied with his bodily health; but in spite of activity and bodily hilarity,
he is pale and puny: just that kind of child of whom old women would say that
he is too clever to live. Old women’s notions are not often so well
founded as this; and having this apprehension before my eyes, the uncertainty
of human happiness never comes home to my heart so deeply as when I look at
him. God’s will be done! I must sow the seed as carefully as if I were
sure that the harvest would ripen. My two others are the most perfect contrast
you ever saw. Bertha, whom I call Queen
Henry the Eighth, from her likeness to King
Bluebeard, grows like Jonah’s gourd,
and is the very picture of robust health; and little Kate hardly seems to grow at all, though
perfectly well,—she is round as a mushroom-button.
Bertha, the bluff queen, is just as grave as
Kate is garrulous; they are inseparable play-fellows,
and go about the house hand in hand. Shall I never show you this little flock
of mine? I have seen almost every one of my friends here except you, than whom
none would be more joyfully welcomed.
“I shall have two interesting chapters in this volume
for 1811*, upon Sicily and S. America. My Life of Nelson, by a miscalculation, which
lies between Murray and the printer,
will appear in two volumes instead of one, which will materially, beyond all
doubt, injure the sale. Murray has most probably ordered a
large impression, calculating upon
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| Ætat. 39. | OF ROBERT SOUTHEY. | 7 |
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its going off as a midshipman’s manual, which design
is thus prevented. If, however, this impression can pass off, I shall have no
fear of its answering his purpose when printed in a suitable form; for though
the subject was not of my own choice, and might be reasonably thought to be out
of my proper line, I have satisfied myself in the execution far more than I
could have expected to do. The second sheet of the second volume is now before
me. I have just finished the battle of Copenhagen, which makes an impressive
narrative. Two chapters more will complete it, and I hope to send you the book
by the beginning of March. My labour with it will be completed much before that
time, probably in ten days or a fortnight; and then the time which it now
occupies will be devoted to the indigesta
moles of Mr.
Walpole’s papers. I find the day too short for the
employment which it brings; however, if I cannot always get through what is
before me as soon as could be wished, in process of time I get through it all.
My poem* comes on well;
about 2700 lines are written; the probable extent is 5000; but the last half is
like going down hill,—the difficulty is over, and your progress
accelerates itself. The poem is of a perfectly original character. What its
success may be I cannot guess.
Yours, very affectionately,
Robert Southey.”
John Murray II (1778-1843)
The second John Murray began the
Quarterly Review in 1809 and
published works by Scott, Byron, Austen, Crabbe, and other literary notables.
Katherine Southey (1810-1864)
The daughter of Robert and Edith Southey; she died unmarried at Lairthwaite Cottage in
Cumberland.
