Tag Archives: Sir Walter Scott

“These English songs gravel me to death. I have not the command of the language that I have of my native tongue. In fact, I think that my ideas are more barren in English than in Scotch.” — Robert Burns, “the Ploughman Poet” of Scotland

“For my own part I never had the least thought or inclination of turning poet till I got once heartily in Love, and then Rhyme and Song were, in a manner, the spontaneous language of my heart.” — Robert Burns … Continue reading

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“Beside her Joyce seems innocent as grass.” — W.H. Auden on Jane Austen

“The little bit (two Inches wide) of Ivory on which I work with so fine a Brush.” — Jane Austen on her writing In 2020 – which feels like it was 1,000 years ago, I reviewed the new film adaptation … Continue reading

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A glimpse of Sarah Siddons …

… in a letter from Daniel Terry to Sir Walter Scott. Wow. Her Lady Macbeth is one of those “oh for a time machine” things I wish I could have seen!! (I love the story about her backstage preparation for … Continue reading

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“ordinary commonplace things”

… the exquisite touch, which renders ordinary commonplace things and characters interesting … is denied to me. — Sir Walter Scott on Jane Austen, 1826

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Longing

Wonderful man! I long to get drunk with him. — Lord Byron on Sir Walter Scott, journal entry, Jan. 5, 1782

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Letters

Here’s one of my new favorite blogs. What a great idea: “A Daily Selection of Correspondence by Authors, Writers, Poets, Painters and others”. I love reading people’s letters. I just bought a second-hand copy of the correspondence of my intellectual … Continue reading

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LM Montgomery on Sir Walter Scott

“His magic never fails … I always come back to him … What a delight the few novels of Scott which I could get to read in early life were to me! There was one around the house — an … Continue reading

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LM Montgomery on “Lady of the Lake” by Walter Scott

“How I always gloried in that poem — its spirited description, its atmosphere of romance, the dramatic situations with which it abounded! What food it was for my eager young mind and fancy! I used to pore over it in … Continue reading

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