"De Aar dust & heat" Read the full letter
| Letter Reference | Olive Schreiner: Extracts of Letters to Cronwright-Schreiner MSC 26/2.16/207 |
| Archive | National Library of South Africa, Special Collections, Cape Town |
| Epistolary Type | Extract |
| Letter Date | 16 February 1904 |
| Address From | Hanover, Northern Cape |
| Address To | Beaufort West, Western Cape |
| Who To | S.C. (‘Cron’) Cronwright-Schreiner |
| Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 243 |
| Permissions | Please read before using or citing this transcription |
| Legend |
The Extracts of Letters to Cronwright-Schreiner were produced by Cronwright-Schreiner in preparing The Life and The Letters of Olive Schreiner. They appear on slips of paper in his writing, taken from letters that were then destroyed; many of these extracts have also been edited by him. They are artefacts of his editorial practices and their relationship to original Schreiner letters cannot now be gauged. They should be read with considerable caution for the reasons given. Cronwright-Schreiner has written the date, where it was sent from and the place it was sent to onto this extract. There are some differences between this transcription and the version that appears in The Letters….
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…I wrote till twelve o’clock last night, & then read Whitman till
2one. There was a time when Browning seemed to “express me” better
3than any other poet, he is beloved of my heart still, but I think now
4Whitman seems to speak my thoughts for me most. It’s to nature,
5it’s to the vast life of the whole, we must turn for strength. I
6love that little two line thing so much because you quoted it when I
7wrote & said one reason why we couldn’t marry was because I was too
8old older than you:-
9
10 “Women st sit or move to & from, some old, some young,
11 The young are beautiful - but the old are more beautiful than the
12young”.
13
14 This is the copy I sent you in 1893 from Matjesfontein. Now I must get
15to my writing. I wonder much what you will think of the ending of my
16story… I seem so joyful to think of seeing you again my darling. You
17seen to have been so long gone…
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2one. There was a time when Browning seemed to “express me” better
3than any other poet, he is beloved of my heart still, but I think now
4Whitman seems to speak my thoughts for me most. It’s to nature,
5it’s to the vast life of the whole, we must turn for strength. I
6love that little two line thing so much because you quoted it when I
7wrote & said one reason why we couldn’t marry was because I was too
8old older than you:-
9
10 “Women st sit or move to & from, some old, some young,
11 The young are beautiful - but the old are more beautiful than the
12young”.
13
14 This is the copy I sent you in 1893 from Matjesfontein. Now I must get
15to my writing. I wonder much what you will think of the ending of my
16story… I seem so joyful to think of seeing you again my darling. You
17seen to have been so long gone…
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