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.

05 August 2026

Richard Jefferies and His Home in Wiltshire


This article by Bertha Newcombe (1857-1947. A suffragette and socialist) was published in Sylvia's Journal, March 1894. 

Bertha Newcombe was a water colourist known for her four images of Jefferies' Land, North Wiltshire that were published in the large paper limited edition of H.S. Salt’s Richard Jefferies: A Study in the same year. The delightful critical essay she wrote includes a further eight superb illustrations by her. 

In her article Bertha condemns Jefferies for some of his Conservative writings as a young man but applauds the fact that 'he saw so clearly the wrong construction of society; the injustice that, in a world of plenty, heaps that plenty into the hands of a few, and holds the majority at their mercy'.    



Thanks to Colin Benford, the full article can be read here.