“Shields’
note is a curiosity in its kind. It is so choicely phrased. But he is very
civil, and I would willingly task myself rather than decline doing what he
wishes me to do. If, however, by a general chorus he means one which is to
recur at the end of every stanza, an ode must be framed with reference to such
a burthen, or else it would be a burthen indeed; and indeed it would be
impossible to fit one to stanzas of such different import as these. If, on the
other hand, a concluding stanza is meant, more adapted for a ‘flourish of
trumpets, &c.’ I am afraid
| 364 | LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE | Ætat. 45. |
“I thought I had explained to you my intentions about my journey. Being sufficiently master of my time, whether I set out a month sooner or later may be regulated solely by my own convenience, so that I return with the summer. I have to finish Wesley, which will be done in five weeks, taking it coolly and quietly. I have to finish the review of Marlborough, which will require three weeks. One of them is my mornings’, the other my evenings’ work. And if I am satisfied about the payment for my last paper, I shall recast the article upon the New Churches, and perhaps prepare one other also, in order to be beforehand with my ways and means for the spring and summer. But if there be any unhandsome treatment, I will not submit to it, but strike work as bravely as a radical weaver. In that case the time which would have been sold to the maximus homo of Albemarle Street will be far more worthily employed in finishing the Tale of Paraguay, which has proceeded more slowly than tortoise, sloth, or snail, but which, as far as it has gone, is good. Indeed, I
* “If I give the composer more trouble than poor Pye did, I am sorry for it, but I can no more write like Mr. Pye than Mr. Pye could write like me. His pyecrust and mine were not made of the same materials,”—R. S. to G. C. B. |
| Ætat. 45. | OF ROBERT SOUTHEY. | 365 |
“A merry Christmas to you! God bless you!
