Item 281 - Letter from R. C. Trevelyan to Edward Marsh

1 item

Hotel Cecil, Agra, India. - Gratified that Edward wants his Dirge for the anthology [the first Georgian Poetry]; Bessie has sent on Edward's letter, and says she has written to him about it; quotes [Horace Odes 1.1] in Latin. Glad that poem has been chosen, which he thinks the best in the book [The Bride of Dionysus]; Edward can do as he thinks best about the italicised 'that' in the last verse. Is here with [Goldsworthy Lowes] Dickinson and [E.M] Forster; they went to the Taj [Mahal] last night, just after sunset, and found it much better than they expected, 'really one of the perfectly beautiful things in the world'. There are 'wonderful things in India, and the people are always a delight to watch', but so far it 'seems to be uglier than any country [Bob] has yet seen'; had not understood before how beautiful Italy was. However, the 'evening is more beautiful than in Europe, and transfigures even the Punjab'; Agra is better, with gardens and the river. They have been to Ajanta and seen the Buddhist frescoes which 'are first-rate' though in bad condition; the Hindu temples and sculptures are 'usually' ugly, but they have not seen the best yet. Will probably part company with Forster in a few weeks and go on to Benares and Calcutta, while he stays in this region; Forster will go to Calcutta later and home in spring, while Bob and Dickinson hope to reach Java in early March, perhaps travelling via Burma; Bob hopes to spend April in China then return home in May by rail. They met W[illiam] Archer recently, and hope to see him again tomorrow when they are going with him in a motor car to Fatehpur Sikri . Bob has 'had one native dinner, and was ill the next day with a temperature of 101 [Fahrenheit]'. They are going to stay with a Maharaja next week, '40 miles from any railway, who has a ruined town with twenty or thirty temples in it, one of them to the 64 female demons'; he [the Maharaja of Chhatarpur] is 'a great talker, and admirer of Herbert Spencer'; they hope he keeps elephants; Bob has seen none yet.

TRER/47/ : Letter, 16 Oct 1912, from Edward Marsh to Elizabeth Trevelyan, asking for permission to include Robert's Dirge in an anthology.