Record Number: 18501
Reading Experience:
Evidence:
'You seem so much interested with the translation of "Pastor Fido" that I shall take the liberty of sending it to you, that you may judge of its merits: not being skilled in the Italian tongue I cannot possibly give an opinion of it as a [italics] translation [end italics]. As anything else, I do not like it, nor ever liked pastorals or pastoral writing, even of the first order, further than as vehicles for fine poetry; and then the poetry would have pleased me better had it spoken for itself, than from the mouth of a creature to me so inconceivable as a shepherd or shepherdess, whose chief, or rather [italics] only [end italics] characteristics are innocence and simplicity. I am sorry to say they are but too apt to be insipid and uninteresting to those who merely read about them [she continues this critique at length, concluding] It may be owing to some defect in my mind that I really never yet knew an interesting pastoral character, or cared a straw about whether they hanged themselves upon the first willow, or drowned themselves in the neighbouring brook. I can enter into the delights of Homer's gods, and follow to their darkest recesses Milton's devils, and delight in the absurdities and extravagancies of Shakespeare's men and women, but I never could sympathise in the sufferings of even Virgil's shepherd swains'.
Century:1800-1849
Date:unknown
Country:n/a
Timen/a
Place:n/a
Type of Experience(Reader):
silent aloud unknown
solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown
(Listener):
solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown
Reader / Listener / Reading Group:
Reader: Age:Adult (18-100+)
Gender:Female
Date of Birth:n/a
Socio-Economic Group:Gentry
Occupation:n/a
Religion:n/a
Country of Origin:n/a
Country of Experience:n/a
Listeners present if any:e.g family, servants, friends
n/a
Additional Comments:
correspondent of Charlotte Bury
Text Being Read:
Author: Title:Eclogues
Genre:Classics, Poetry
Form of Text:Print: Book
Publication Detailsn/a
Provenanceunknown
Source Information:
Record ID:18501
Source:Charlotte Bury
Editor:A. Francis Steuart
Title:Diary of a Lady-in-Waiting, The
Place of Publication:London
Date of Publication:1908
Vol:II
Page:249-50
Additional Comments:
n/a
Citation:
Charlotte Bury, A. Francis Steuart (ed.), Diary of a Lady-in-Waiting, The, (London, 1908), II, p. 249-50, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=18501, accessed: 12 December 2024
Additional Comments:
Date of letter unclear but probably 1820 or 1821