"OS harassed by a policeman tryng to extort money" Read the full letter
| Letter Reference | Letters/395 |
| Archive | |
| Epistolary Type | |
| Letter Date | 12 April 1890 |
| Address From | Matjesfontein, Western Cape |
| Address To | |
| Who To | Havelock Ellis |
| Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 182 |
| Permissions | Please read before using or citing this transcription |
| Legend |
When Cronwright-Schreiner prepared The Letters of Olive Schreiner, with few exceptions he then destroyed her originals. However, some people gave him copies and kept the originals or demanded the return of these; and when actual Schreiner letters can be compared with his versions, his have omissions, distortions and bowdlerisations. Where Schreiner originals have survived, these will be found in the relevant collections across the OSLO website. There is however a residue of some 587 items in The Letters for which no originals are extant. They are included here for sake of completeness. However, their relationship to Schreiners actual letters cannot now be gauged, and so they should be read with caution for the reasons given.
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1To Havelock Ellis.
2Matjesfontein, 12th April.
3
4It's funny that I write so little to you, and think so much of you! If
5another woman were to ask my advice about spending her life so much
6alone as I have done I should say No. You feel the knocks the world
7gives you too much, because there is nothing to stand between you and
8the world. Close relations are like a casing of fat round you, you can
9feel the blows but they don't come straight on the bone. I wonder how
10it goes with you in Paris. I forget the number of the house where I
11stayed in the Rue d'Assas; it was right at the very top where you
12could see the Gardens. Oh, Havelock, I feel so alone in the world. I'm
13sitting alone in my little room. I'm so glad when I'm here, but I have
14to go and have my meals in the public room among the strangers.
15
2Matjesfontein, 12th April.
3
4It's funny that I write so little to you, and think so much of you! If
5another woman were to ask my advice about spending her life so much
6alone as I have done I should say No. You feel the knocks the world
7gives you too much, because there is nothing to stand between you and
8the world. Close relations are like a casing of fat round you, you can
9feel the blows but they don't come straight on the bone. I wonder how
10it goes with you in Paris. I forget the number of the house where I
11stayed in the Rue d'Assas; it was right at the very top where you
12could see the Gardens. Oh, Havelock, I feel so alone in the world. I'm
13sitting alone in my little room. I'm so glad when I'm here, but I have
14to go and have my meals in the public room among the strangers.
15