"Best blood of youth, beginning of half century of war" Read the full letter
| Letter Reference | Olive Schreiner: Havelock Ellis 2006.29/16 |
| Archive | National English Literary Museum, Grahamstown |
| Epistolary Type | Letter |
| Letter Date | 1906 |
| Address From | Hanover, Northern Cape |
| Address To | |
| Who To | Havelock Ellis |
| Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 254 |
| Permissions | Please read before using or citing this transcription |
| Legend |
The Project is grateful to the National English Literary Museum (NELM) for kindly allowing us to transcribe this Olive Schreiner letter, which is part of its Manuscript Collections. The year and also the place which this fragment of a letter was sent from are provided by Cronwright-Schreiner (1924: 254). The beginning and end are missing.
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1
[page/s missing] harder, or if down below there is the same tenderness
2& idealism below the quiet passive surface.
3
4 One thing is beautiful to me is that though my personal life has
5become crushed & indifferent to me, I have not lost one little grain
6of my faith in the possible beauty & greatness of human nature, the
7divine beauty of perfect love, & of truth. I am so absolute certain
8that the dream the ideal of beauty & goodness is that towards which
9human nature is slowly moving. And life has been very, very, beautiful.
10 Even the power to heal & repress oneself is beautiful if there is
11nothing else. And ones joy in nature & in knowing & trying to
12understand has been glorious; & I have had better & more beautiful
13friends than any one in the world. Tell me a little about yourself:
14not in the "dam'd fine horse" style - really. [page/s missing]
15
16 Olive
17
18
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2& idealism below the quiet passive surface.
3
4 One thing is beautiful to me is that though my personal life has
5become crushed & indifferent to me, I have not lost one little grain
6of my faith in the possible beauty & greatness of human nature, the
7divine beauty of perfect love, & of truth. I am so absolute certain
8that the dream the ideal of beauty & goodness is that towards which
9human nature is slowly moving. And life has been very, very, beautiful.
10 Even the power to heal & repress oneself is beautiful if there is
11nothing else. And ones joy in nature & in knowing & trying to
12understand has been glorious; & I have had better & more beautiful
13friends than any one in the world. Tell me a little about yourself:
14not in the "dam'd fine horse" style - really. [page/s missing]
15
16 Olive
17
18
19
Notation
Cronwright-Schreiner’s version of this letter fragment is incorrect in a range of respects.
Cronwright-Schreiner’s version of this letter fragment is incorrect in a range of respects.