Letter from Edward Thomas to the poet Gordon Bottomley. Sent from Steep, Petersfield, Hampshire. Archival ref: 424/1/1/1/10/190
Steep 7.vii.14

My dear Gordon, I thak you & am very
sorry for Emily. I thought you had
a typewriter & foreseeing the hurry
which is now in progress (so to
speak) I presumed to suggest a
copy from you. Please tell her how sorry
I am. I will write to Mathews. At
present I think of using all three poems.
I just remembered about the Riday to
Lithend & have seen that my copy has
some colour on the title page & I
think that is all. Is that as it should be?
And looking on my shelves I came upon
Chamber of 'illegible' II which makes me
want 'Eyes spring' & 'When Robert
put the seed in', or at least the first
May 1? Don't hurry to answer
unless it is No.
Pound merely said something
like 'your stupidity now amounts to
a public insult' & 'My seconds will
wait on you'. Whether Abercrombie
had trounced the Imagists I don't
know, but I fancy not. Ezra has
long been antipethetic to his betters.
Yes I told Frost both sides of your
new? For my part he does so much
that I have perhaps overlooked what
he doesn't do. And I like him more
& more. Which is as it should be if
I am to till New Hampshire at his
side which appears more & more
likely. I wish it didn't: I mean
I wish I wasn't being driven. But
if I could hit off some sort of
a life out there is would be better
than running a long race with
Haldane Macfall. As a matter of
fact a safe £100 a year wouldn't
quite solve my difficulty I think.
But the Midsummer was
dreadful. Tracts of heavily insincere
words among better things &
quite
nice little islands ruined by their
surroundings. I hope I shall come
again. But just now I feel
I ought to be a lot alone for some
time & I know I am not going to be
In August & tho I shall like it well
enough I know i shall feel the need
of being alone afterwards. I will have to
try to come up to you in October.
If only I could pay my way by an
account of a cycle journey up, for
example, it would be simpler.
Now I am typewriting all day &
ruining such lovely weather - wet
night & glorious early mornings,
some later showers & fine days
after. Ellis motored over & tried to
take me to Lulworth but luckily
rain drove us back at Bournemouth
I I could work again. It would be so
easy for me to cease pretending to
be a working man.
Now I should like a letter from
you on one of the days when I
have finished the anthology,
about the 12th. Tell me did
Browning really expect to meet
Evelyn Hope again & do you
suppose he has done?
My love to Emily & you
Yours ever
Edward Thomas