The Story of My Heart, 1883

CHAPTER I: THE STORY OF MY HEART [published Oct. 1883] commences seventeen years ago. In the glow of youth there were times every now and then when I felt the necessity of a strong inspiration of soul thought. My heart was dusty, parched for want of the rain of deep feeling; my mind arid and dry, for there is a dust which settles on the heart as well as that which falls on a ledge. ... When this began to form I felt eager to escape from it, to throw off the heavy clothing, to drink deeply once more at the fresh fountains of life. An inspiration―a long deep breath of the pure air of thought―could alone give health to the heart. There is a hill [Liddington] to which I used to resort at such periods. The labour of walking three miles to it, all the while gradually ascending, seemed to clear my blood of the heaviness accumulated at home. On a warm summer day the slow continued rise required continual effort, which carried away the sense of oppression.... I began to breathe a new air and to have a fresher aspiration. ... Moving up the sweet short turf, at every step my heart seemed to obtain a wider horizon of feeling; with every inhalation of rich pure air, a deeper desire. The very light of the sun was whiter and more brilliant here. By the time I had reached the summit I had entirely forgotten the petty circumstances and the annoyances of existence. I felt myself, myself.

22 October 2010

Richard Jefferies’ science fiction book: basis for Birthday Lecture on 6 November


Professor John Carey (pictured above) will be giving this year’s Richard Jefferies’ Birthday Lecture on Saturday 6 November at Liddington Village Hall starting at 2.30pm, 162 years after Swindon’s most celebrated writer was born and raised at Coate Farm in 1848.
 
John Carey is Emeritus Merton Professor of English Literature at Oxford University, a Fellow of the British Academy, and Chief Book Reviewer for The Sunday Times. His books include studies of Donne, Thackeray, Milton and Dickens; and his most recent publication; William Golding, the Man who Wrote Lord of the Flies, has been widely acclaimed.
Prof Carey edited the Faber Book of Utopias that included a section on Richard Jefferies’ science fiction novel After London, or Wild England (first published in 1885) that depicts what happens to England after a major environmental catastrophe turns London into a no-go area of contamination whilst an inland sea is created that runs from London to Bristol, based on an imaginary expansion of Coate Water. Whilst Jefferies is better known for his nature and countryside writing, After London is still an influential work of fiction.
Prof. Carey has been invited to present his lecture by the Richard Jefferies Society and it is entitled “After London and other Utopias and Dystopias,” and it is open to the general public. No prior booking is required and the event is free to attend.