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MS untraced; text is taken from Robert Galloway Kirkpatrick Jnr, ‘The Letters of Robert Southey to Mary Barker From 1800 to 1826’ (unpublished PhD, Harvard, 1967), pp. 24-27. Previously published: John Wood Warter (ed.), Selections from the Letters of Robert Southey, 4 vols (London, 1856), I, pp. 193–195 [dated 9-28 May 1802].
These letters were edited with the assistance of Carol Bolton, Tim Fulford and Ian Packer
For permission to publish the text of MSS in their possession, the editor wishes to thank the Beinecke Rare Books and Manuscript Library, Yale University; Berg Collection of English and American Literature, The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations; the Bodleian Library Oxford University; the British Library; Boston Public Library; the Syndics of Cambridge University Library; the Syndics of the Fitzwilliam Museum Cambridge; Haverford College, Connecticut; the Historical Society of Pennsylvania; the Hornby Library, Liverpool Libraries and Information Services; the Houghton Library, Harvard University; the John Rylands Library, Manchester; the Kenneth Spencer Research Library, University of Kansas; Luton Museum (Bedfordshire County Council); Massachusetts Historical Society; McGill University Library; the National Library of Scotland; the Newberry Library, Chicago; the New York Public Library (Pforzheimer Collections); the Pierpont Morgan Library, New York; the Public Record Offices of Bedford, Suffolk (Bury St Edmunds) and Northumberland, the Master and Fellows of Trinity College, Cambridge; the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle upon Tyne; the Trustees of the William Salt Library, Stafford, the Wisbech and Fenland Museum; the University of Virginia Library.
A research grant from the British Academy made much of the archival work possible, as did support from the English Department of Nottingham Trent University.
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SenHORa BARKeriANA – it is but an awkward way of expressing the tune of those words – & yet it will do – the great letters forté – & the little ones andanté or allegro – the whole base – but the tenor of the whole to stand instead of a formality & remind you of the risings & fallings – the sinkings & swellings – the hills & dales – the mountains & glens, the lights & shades – the storm-waves, & the calm ripplings of my voice most musical, which is a great voice & loud, but now lyeth at rest. howbeit having found my way out of this parenthesis – tho by the by there must come in something about the apple which is a large apple – & therefore having of course a large core must fit the voice-organ for a corus – being I say fairly arrived half way down the first page of my paper & at the beginning of my letter – preliminaries you know take up a large portion of a statesmans time – & Secretaries learn something. – to proceed to the matter desired – here we are
safely arrived after a warm journey of twenty four hours,
which cost almost a shilling an hour, the fare being one
pound three, & of course would have been as cheap again
if the coach had been eight & forty hours upon the road,
which would have made it a great bargain. Swineabell bore
the journey well, better I think than
Mrs Lovell.
Bellatell, we had two other
decent peopell, poor I was sleepy, & to
Bristol at last we all of us got filthy
& tired & plaguely hot.
Some six months ago a Lady called &
expressed prodigious delight at seeing Mrs. Danvers
working the carpet, upon which the desk was to stand,
whereon so many beautiful poems were to be written. &
cannot you guess who this Lady of prophetic complaisance
was? why who should it be but Miss Bunjy or Bungy or Benjy
or Bengy,
There was joy in store for me at Bristol − my
dear & noble books − such folios of Saints! dull books
enough for my patience to diet upon till all my flock be
gathered together into one fold. but Where & When? of
course I know as little as when we parted – or rather did
not part − for that cursed Good bye − is a world I never
pronounce if it mean more than a fortnights seperation.
however I do see for about four months forward, & Edith is now
looking out for a small − ready furnished house − lodgings
would not now so well suit us − & do you Senhora
instruct yourself in the Creed, the Lords Prayer & the
Ten Commandments in the Vulgar tongue to qualify yourself
for the office
When I tell you that sixteen volumes of
Spanish poetry are lying uncut in the room − & a large
folio long in requisition & yet untasted lying at − yea
actually jogging my elbow − you will allow that I sacrifice
something in bescrawling this paper at this time. So fail
not you to certify us of your safe arrival and well being in
Staffordshire. There is a strangeness in the great quiet of
this place − still more in missing at once a whole army of
acquaintance, & those such remarkables as were used to
frequent our rooms. But I shall do wonders − & if by the
end of the year there be not much history
I am persuaded here by Danvers to
settle near London − tho to be near him is the only reason
that tempts me to settle here. however here we must tarry
for a season − & if during that time any very desirable
house were vacant − I feel a somewhat towards the country
where I grew up − that would perhaps bird-lime me. We have
some lovely scenes near, − within an easy walk − I should be
content to live in the Strand if I could drop down these rocks &
woods & river just upon St Gile’s or St James’s −
(giving you know the inhabitants of the said parish warning
to remove −) but that not being the case − you know what
Mahommed did when the mountainjust now with respect to
the Post Office − So remember you all the remembrances that
I always chuse to forget in my Epistolizations and know
me