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.

03 April 2026

An Ecological Vision of Earth

 

W.H. Hudson (1841−1922) should need no introduction to Richard Jefferies' followers. Hudson was born in Argentina and spent his boyhood and youth on the pampas of La Plata, largely engaged in natural history. He came to England aged thirty-two. His books such as Green Mansions and A Shepherd’s Life have become classics, whilst Hudson has been widely acknowledged as a pioneer ecologist, as well as a prose-poet of the English landscape and its wildlife. 

Brian Morris, a Richard Jefferies Society member, has written a new biography of Hudson titled An Ecological Vision of Earth: The Life and Thought of W.H. Hudson (Norfolk: Reuben Books, 2026). Jefferies’ name crops up more than one hundred times in the book that includes a section on both writers. The crossovers with Jefferies’ writing, thoughts and life are many. 

An Ecological Vision of Earth is both readable and scholarly and offers an introduction to this remarkable naturalist.  It can be purchased via Paypal at Reuben Books (UK postage only).


ISBN: 978-1-9993172-8-7, 276pp., softback, £17 (incl UK postage).