Record Number: 34028

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Reading Experience:

Evidence:

'Many thanks for your letter and book of verse. [...] I am delighted to possess your translations of modern Welsh verse, also the introduction and biographical notes. I have noted that when talking with Welshmen of the working classes they know something of the poetic literature of their country (they are like the Spanish in that), whereas the Englishman of the same class knows nothing of our poets. [...] My milkman talks with enthusiasm of Dafydd ap Glyllam [sic]. From a first perusal of the poems I think that those that struck me the most are "By the Sea", "The City", "The Spirit", "Funeral in Time of Harvest from Tristan and Iseult" and "Good Night—a charming poem.'

Century:

1900-1945

Date:

Between 1 Oct 1913 and 11 Oct 1913

Country:

England

Time

n/a

Place:

city: London
specific address: 40 St Luke's Road

Type of Experience
(Reader):
 

silent aloud unknown
solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown

Type of Experience
(Listener):
 

solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown

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Reader / Listener / Reading Group:

Reader:

William Henry Hudson

Age:

Adult (18-100+)

Gender:

Male

Date of Birth:

4 Aug 1841

Socio-Economic Group:

Professional / academic / merchant / farmer

Occupation:

Field naturalist and author

Religion:

Protestant (Anglican) in childhood only

Country of Origin:

Argentina

Country of Experience:

England

Listeners present if any:
e.g family, servants, friends

n/a

Additional Comments:

n/a

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Text Being Read:

Author:

H. Idris Bell

Title:

Poems from the Welsh: Translated into English Verse

Genre:

Poetry

Form of Text:

Print: Book

Publication Details

trans. H. Idris Bell ; with some additional renderings by C. C. Bell. Publ. Carnavon: Welsh Pub. Co. 1913

Provenance

owned

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Source Information:

Record ID:

34028

Source:

Print

Author:

William Henry Hudson

Editor:

Denis Shrubsall

Title:

The Unpublished Letters of W. H. Hudson, the First Literary Environmentalist, 1841-1922

Place of Publication:

Lewiston, N.Y.

Date of Publication:

2006

Vol:

2

Page:

477

Additional Comments:

Letter from Hudson to H. Idris Bell (1879-1967) papyrologist at the British Museum and Welsh literature specialist, 26 October 1913, 40 St. Luke's Road W. London.

Citation:

William Henry Hudson, Denis Shrubsall (ed.), The Unpublished Letters of W. H. Hudson, the First Literary Environmentalist, 1841-1922, (Lewiston, N.Y., 2006), 2, p. 477, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=34028, accessed: 27 April 2024

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Additional Comments:

Hudson had in an earlier letter, 11 October 1913 (p. 477 of source text) claimed that 'Welsh poetry is a sealed book to me' and went on to say that he felt it might be untranslatable. Idris Bell then sent his own recently published collection.