Some Diversions of a Man of Letters

Name: Some Diversions of a Man of Letters
Author: Gosse, Edmund

Gosse, Edmund

American literature -- History and criticism; English literature -- History and criticism; World War, 1914-1918 -- Poetry

Accordingly, on May 23rd he came to London to transact some business,
and to take the chair next day at a meeting of the Royal Society of
Literature, of which he was a vice-president. This meeting took place in
the afternoon, and he addressed a crowded assembly, which greeted him
with great warmth. Those who were present, and saw his bright eyes and
heard his ringing voice, could have no suspicion that they would see him
again no more. His intimate friends alone perceived that he was making a
superlative effort. There followed a very bad night, and he went down to
Batsford next day, going straight to his bed, from which he never rose
again. His condition, at first, gave rise to little alarm. The disease,
which proved to be catarrhal jaundice, took its course; but for a long
time his spirit and his unconsciousness of danger sustained him and
filled those around him with hope. There was no disturbance of mind to
the very last. In a shaky hand, with his stylograph, he continued to
correspond with certain friends, about politics, and books, and even
about Veluvana. In the beginning of August there seemed to be symptoms
of improvement, but these were soon followed by a sudden and final
relapse. Even after this, Lord Redesdale's interest and curiosity were
sustained. In his very last letter to myself, painfully scrawled only
one week before his death, he wrote:--

     "Have you seen Ernest Daudet's book just published, _Les auteurs de
     la guerre de_ 1914? Bismarck is the subject of the first volume;
     the second will deal with the Kaiser and the Emperor Joseph; and
     the third with _leurs complices_. I know E.D., he is a brother of
     Alphonse, and is a competent historian. His book is most
     illuminating. Of course there are exaggerations, but he is always
     well _documenté_, and there is much in his work that is new. I
     don't admire his style. The abuse of the historic present is bad
     enough, but what can be said in favour of the historic future with
     which we meet at every step? It sets my teeth on edge."

But he grew physically weaker, and seven days later he passed into an
unconscious state, dying peacefully at noon on August 17th, 1916. He was
saved, as he had wished to be, from all consciousness of decrepitude.




THE LYRICAL POETRY OF THOMAS HARDY

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

Opening the text

Some Diversions of a Man of LettersGosse, Edmund

History

Some Diversions of a Man of Letters

Gosse, Edmund

American literature -- History and criticism; English literature -- History and criticism; World War, 1914-1918 -- Poetry

Accordingly, on May 23rd he came to London to transact some business,
and to take the chair next day at a meeting of the Royal Society of
Literature, of which he was a vice-president. This meeting took place in
the afternoon, and he addressed a crowded assembly, which greeted him
with great warmth. Those who were present, and saw his bright eyes and
heard his ringing voice, could have no suspicion that they would see him
again no more. His intimate friends alone perceived that he was making a
superlative effort. There followed a very bad night, and he went down to
Batsford next day, going straight to his bed, from which he never rose
again. His condition, at first, gave rise to little alarm. The disease,
which proved to be catarrhal jaundice, took its course; but for a long
time his spirit and his unconsciousness of danger sustained him and
filled those around him with hope. There was no disturbance of mind to
the very last. In a shaky hand, with his stylograph, he continued to
correspond with certain friends, about politics, and books, and even
about Veluvana. In the beginning of August there seemed to be symptoms
of improvement, but these were soon followed by a sudden and final
relapse. Even after this, Lord Redesdale's interest and curiosity were
sustained. In his very last letter to myself, painfully scrawled only
one week before his death, he wrote:--

     "Have you seen Ernest Daudet's book just published, _Les auteurs de
     la guerre de_ 1914? Bismarck is the subject of the first volume;
     the second will deal with the Kaiser and the Emperor Joseph; and
     the third with _leurs complices_. I know E.D., he is a brother of
     Alphonse, and is a competent historian. His book is most
     illuminating. Of course there are exaggerations, but he is always
     well _documenté_, and there is much in his work that is new. I
     don't admire his style. The abuse of the historic present is bad
     enough, but what can be said in favour of the historic future with
     which we meet at every step? It sets my teeth on edge."

But he grew physically weaker, and seven days later he passed into an
unconscious state, dying peacefully at noon on August 17th, 1916. He was
saved, as he had wished to be, from all consciousness of decrepitude.




THE LYRICAL POETRY OF THOMAS HARDY

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

Some Diversions of a Man of Letters

Some Diversions of a Man of Letters

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