Laity Water, Torrington. - Thanks Bob for his 'Christmas card' ["From the Shiffolds"]; does not know which poem he likes best as they are all 'so good, so true, and so amusing'; thinks it is a 'noble achievement to be able to write towards the end of life; "Yet the sorrow vanishes, the joy endures"'. Likes "Maya" very much, and is sure Goldie [Lowes Dickinson] would have too. Wonders if he and Bob will meet again, though feels 'this is [emphasised] a meeting' and is 'grateful for such a warm gift of friendship'. Knows Bob will be as 'heart-sick' as he is by the war; finds this phase, which he hopes is the last, 'particularly trying' as he can 'feel all the bad feelings that are stirring', so it is all the more joyful to have Bob's poems 'so clear and limpid and simple in their wisdom. Sends love to him and Bessie, and best wishes 'for what remains' of their lives; they are 'all getting old', and he himself 'almost died about three months ago'. Was glad that he was 'quite impersonal about the ordeal'; was saved by the 'miracles of modern surgery' and he is waiting to see whether he needs another operation. Had just finished writing his autobiography ["But to What Purpose?"] when he was taken ill, and hopes Bob will see it one day; his agent's reader seems 'very pleased with it' and thinks it innovative. Is still writing, but regrets that his 'days of tree-felling and digging are over'. He 'fret[s]' a little at being so 'helpless', and the house is too big for them now their daughters are away. Will not tell him about Bridget, as Katharine says she has written about this to Bessie; Bob will hear 'what a good friend Justin Brooks has been to her and us'. Thanks Bob again for the poems; is not slighting the earlier work when he says these are among Bob's 'very best'.
88 New Street, Torrington. - Likes Bob's new book of poetry; they 'seem to come so sincerely from the inner man'. Has just returned from a fortnight in St Bartholomew's hospital, where he had his appendix removed and a hernia dealt with; has been troubled by his appendix for 'years'. Finds himself 'most annoyingly weak... What a business this growing old is'. Hopes his mind has 'remained young', but he is 'nearly edentate' and needs spectacles. They are now in their new home in Torringtonm which is their first town house for a long time; it is something to have the 'compensations' of electric light and gas.
West Melville, Northam, Devon. - Very pleased to get Bob's book of poems and to find some he did not know; good to have the ones he does know together, especially 'in this new form so easily adapted to the pocket'. Wishes he could come and see Bob and Bessie, but visits are not easy at the moment: 'Even though one carries a nosebag' [i.e. takes food rations] the demand on one's host's hospitality is 'not easy to meet;. Would love to 'stroll' with Bob on his terrace and talk. May manage to get to London in autumn, and hopes then to visit Raisley [Moorsom?] and his family. Wonders whether Bob has seen his autobiography, "But To What Purpose"; thinks it would interest him, though he may think he has been 'too severe on Bedales'. Learned a 'great deal' from writing it; may perhaps have 'more to learn'.
He and Katharine very much like their new home, which is 'the half of a beautiful old house', with 'the most lovely garden'; regrets that that is a 'very expensive item', and he finds it difficult not to work too hard there. Has 'slipped somehow, rather unwillingly, into [radio] broadcasts', and is about to record two 'Empire broadcasts' in the "Men and Book" series, one on Melville and the other on Conrad. Will take a 'very different approach from the fellow who talked on these two the other night on the Third Programme [William Plomer?]' They have just come back from a conference at Birmingham, having heard some interesting papers and discussions, particularly the papers by Wilson Knight on "Imagination" and [William?] Chaning Pearce on "Existentialism and Christianity". Wilson Knight's lecture was a 'masterpiece of extemporary speaking'; expects Bob knows "The Wheel of Fire" and "The Imperial Theme", Knight's writings on Shakespeare, and recommends them if he does not. Love to the Trevelyans from both Grant Watsons.
West Melville, Northam, Devon. - Thanks Bob for the 'truly lovely book' ["Translations from Latin Poetry"?]. Enjoys the 'pictures of life' in it, and comments on 'how fresh that past seems to our ageing present!'. Thinks he has mentioned that he has also tried to 'live in that distant time': his book is finished and he has sent it to Constables to see if they will publish. Had a 'very friendly and favourable recommendation' from Helen Waddell - expects Bob knows her, or at least her work. Bob knows he is not a classical scholar, but he has been reading about the first century for the last two years and 'lived [himself] a little way into it'. Quotes approvingly from Bob's translation of Catullus [4: "Phaselus ille..."]. Wishes he could see Bob and hear him read, but the distance between them is 'so far'. Hopes to be in London in September, or perhaps November, and will see if he can visit then. Hopes Bob and Bessie are 'as well as we ageing creatures can hope to be'. Still enjoys bathing, and finds he feels 'young again, if only for a few minutes' when swimming. Katharine has had a 'bad summer and spring', with tonsillitis leading to a 'long operation' from which she is only slowly recovering; she gets 'very depressed at times'. Would like to take her somewhere for a change, but hotels are busy, so in October they hope to go to Cornwall; meanwhile Katharine might spend some time at her sister's flat in Hampstead. Thanks Bob again for the book which will take him 'far from this troublous age.
West Melville, Northam, Devon. - Thanks Bob for his poens [this year's "From the Shiffolds"], particularly the poem to Goldie [Lowes Dickinson]. Likes the 'questioning in them all, and what seems to be the answer in the translation of Menander 550', which is of course 'vague'. Feels himself that it is a mistake to look for 'a goal to be fulfilled in this time-space we live in', and that 'Good and evil are always about balanced', so that it is not possible to 'build the kingdom of Justice and happiness'; is tempted to write an essay on injustice being 'the inevitable fate of man'. Thinks he must come and stay at Peaslake in the spring, and visit Bob and Bessie, so they can discuss all this. He and Katharine are living quietly, and like their home. Is finding things difficult financially since his books are 'held up so long in the publishing process': was meant to have two books out this year, now one will appear in January, and he only has a date of 'the autumn' for the other. Is now trying to write a 'very long and ambitious novel' about the first century, doing lots of 'interesting reading'. Thinks he will take the first six lines of Bob's Menander translation as his epigraph, with the theme being 'Lux, post has tenebras: tunc omnibus omne patebit" [After these shadows, light: then everything will be revealed to all (Latin)]. Finds life very interesting, and hopes that as in the story of Lot there 'may be enough for us to escape the fate of Sodom'; even if not, believes 'Life is always victorious' eventually.
West Melville, Northam, Devon. - Very pleased to receive Bob's 'Christmas greeting of poems' [this year's "From the Shiffolds"]: the translations makes him wish he knew more of the authors; regrets his 'lack of a Classical education' more often as he gets older. The 'smattering of science' he gathered at Cambridge was enough to 'awaken [him] to the limitations of the scientific approach'; is sure Bob's translations give the 'right feeling'. Will have them 'bound up with the other two one day'. Hopes all well with Bob and Bessie. He and Katharine are in their new home: they 'sold the Torrington house quite well', then he 'dared greatly and bought an old and lovely and enormous house' at Northam, with two acres of grounds surrounded by a 'high stone wall', which had not sold at auction. Has divided the house in two, sold one half, and got their half and most of the 'lovely old garden' for around one and a half thousand pounds, not dear for today's prices. The rooms are large and beautiful, and the house near both Bideford and the sea. His autobiography ["But to What Purpose"] has been held up at the binders again, but he is assured it will be out on 14 January. Has in fact written two books after it, and is just starting another; did 'little but foreman's work' during the alterations to the house, and 'enjoyed it'. Hopes to stay at Peaslake in February [see also 18/67?], and would like to visit the Trevelyans. Sends Christmas and New Year's best wishes.