The Morgue

[ecb]

I just finished the first two sections of Peter's Morgue with his annotations and comments- right up to to Arthur's death.  Thank you so much for uploading this Andrew.  What a sad story and how perfectly the letters and comments bring their world and the people in it to life.  And thank you Peter - although I know it cost you tremendously to do this.

[andrew]

What a lovely response, that makes all the effort worthwhile. I often wonder what Peter would think if he could see me, 60 years on, not only trnscrib8ing his Morgue (against his wishes?) but adding the odd letter or whatever that evaded his grasp at the time. But for all its sadness, I find his Morgue as inspirational as it is melancholic. Arthur's death - and Sylvia's to come, and George's too - they all take death in their stride, embracing Browning's Prospice in a way that Peter either couldn't or wouldn't ...

Fear death?—to feel the fog in my throat,
The mist in my face,
When the snows begin, and the blasts denote
I am nearing the place,
The power of the night, the press of the storm,
The post of the foe;
Where he stands, the Arch Fear in a visible form ...

But thanks so much for your words and encouragement. I'm currently up to 1909 with the Morgue, but have just found a a dozen letters from JMB to Dolly P that belong in the previous upload, and have spent the evening transcribing them -while playing Scrabble with my brood here in the wilds of north Wales ...