Letter from Edward Thomas to the poet Gordon Bottomley. Sent from Elses Farm, The Weald, Kent. Archival ref: 424/1/1/1/10/29
The Weald
Sevenoaks

9.ii.05

My dear Gordon,

You are an excellent
moralist. That is to say, I agree with
your. Moreover, I am apparently
on the way to a more sensible mode of
living. I burned my opium (as I
often have done) and did not try
anymore. But I am grateful to
the Devil, because under his influence
I easily acted the amiable man: Then
I threw it off, and such is the value
of tradition, I am still amiable, &
consequently a more cheerful member
of this family. In fact, I have
had a wonderful sweet month, that
is how I explain it & every day I am
practising self restraint in temper which
used to be impossible. Isn't it odd? &
I get quite hopeful about the future -
not as a literary cove of course - but
as a little man. My great enemy is
physical exhaustion which makes my brain
so wild that I am almost capable of any-
thing & fear I shall someday prove it. A
long day in London yesterday so wearies
that I only just did not spoil everything.
I saw Ransome, & he has been bad & looks
bad.
At last in my 'April" I have
quoted all your song of Apple Blush - the
book is nearly at an end & I have
only to copy it now to write October,
November & December. Shall I send
you the manuscript if it falls to me?
For the book will be in a genre I have no
time to explain - yours. I told you-
I think that I was doing landscapes
for each month of the year. They are
marvelously irrelevant as a rule: so are
the 7 or 8 characters. And I am
giving up the notion of writing history:
I shall put all my history into my
'December' probably.
We have a pretty good servant
now. Helen said to her a few days ago
'look at the pretty sky!'
'Yes' she said 'that is what
you call a sunset, isn't it?
We send our love to your mother
& Aunt Sarah & your father & you.

Ever yours
Edward Thomas