[Vwoolf] "Live" sighting in Berry & Paris, VW & Milton query

[stringsOf Light]

Dear Marie Claire

Great to hear you had a lovely journey in the country. As to your question, here comes an answer:

In Sep 10th 1918 VW writes in her diary the words which the article quotes regarding Milton " scarcely feel that Milton lived or knew men and women ... He was the first of the masculinists", yet Woolf's descriptions don't stop there. About Paradise Lost she writes "But how smooth, strong and elaborate it all is! What poetry! I can conceive that even Shakespeare after this would seem a little troubled, personal, hot and imperfect. I can conceive that this is the essence, of which almost all other poetry is the dilution."

And the rest follows which is worth reading as VW is so taken by it. But to understand what the author of the article meant with "inhuman and aloof" re Paradise Lost (VW never wrote those words. That is probably what the author of the article received from reading her impression), Woolf's diary entry should be read in its entirety as it reveals deeper layers which that poem brings forth.

________________________________
From: Vwoolf <vwoolf-bounces+stringsoflight=hotmail.co.uk at lists.osu.edu> on behalf of Marie Claire Boisset via Vwoolf <vwoolf at lists.osu.edu>
Sent: 29 June 2025 23:48
To: vwoolf listerve <vwoolf at lists.osu.edu>
Cc: Mark Hussey <mhussey at verizon.net>
Subject: [Vwoolf] "Live" sighting in Berry & Paris, VW & Milton query

Dear all: I hope that this email finds you well, not being crushed by a heat wave (or any & all sundry events or conditions). As tonight we are returning from a first ever, long delayed day trip to Nohant(1), the family home of writer George
Dear all:

I hope that this email finds you well, not being crushed by a heat wave (or any & all sundry events or conditions).

As tonight we are returning from a first ever, long delayed day trip to Nohant(1), the family home of writer George Sand (quoted by VW in ROO & Letters Vol. 6), I wanted to share a spark of my/our enthusiasm about the discovery of a place that welcomed the likes of Chopin (Aurore Dudevant's companion for 9 years), Gustave Flaubert, Alfred de Musset, Eugène Delacroix, Pauline Viardot, Franz Liszt, Honoré de Balzac, Théophile Gautier, etc.

VW visited Nohant & wrote to VSW "We've just visited the Chateau at Nohant - most romantic. A lovely journey, perfect country, the valley of the Dordogne. I mean to buy a house and live here." (!)

Totally agree about Nohant being "most romantic" - still lively, fresh, and well-preserved, not  museumified. So today we found the place in roughly the same way that VW & LW (and Marmoset) saw it back in May 1937. Wow! Followed by a superb Schubert concert(2) as part of the Chopin Festival.

Also, having spent much of my childhood vacation time in the countryside of the Dordogne, the surprise, spell & charm of re-reading that postcard to VSW are perfect.

Next month, on August 6, VW's visit to Nohant will be remembered & readings from her works will be organized in the garden.

End of the Nohant postcard.

****
One query about a VW quotation found in the WSJ June 27

About VW & Milton
The article is allegedly quoting VW saying that Paradise Lost was "inhuman and aloof", "I scarcely feel that Milton lived or knew men and women" (D) x?; "he was the first of the masculinists".

I know that VW would sometimes seem to have contradictory statements about this or that in this or that source. But don't we remember her listing Milton in her top list of favourite poets (with Keats, if I remember well)? Or am I being delusional and she always professed to hate Milton-the-masculinist"? A very minor point after all, but the quotation in WSJ made me jump, rather, so I had to share the query with this community. Quid about VW/Milton?

****
Please believe that I would really have loved to join you all in London & Surrey, to take part in all these wonderful events that the Woolfian community is organizing. Thank you so much for all the splendid work. I will be with you remotely whenever possible, and in spirit certainly too.

With best wishes

mc








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