29 Mar
29 Mar
29 March 1920
To Arthur of Heronia.
Greeting!
I got your letter today. It was a very special one with lovely printing on top, a darling little drawing & How to Light a Bonfire. Ill lend my hair if you like but I bet I couldn't make one. I'll keep the wind off & watch you and Wing will prowl and pRRRowl around. Doesn't the little small Heron sound fascinating. Yes we must have a pig sitting under the pig-tree. Talking about English flowers
Bring hither the pink and purple columbines
And gilly flowers
Bring coronations and sops-in-wine
Beloved of paramours
Strew me the ground with daffa down dilly
With cowslips and kingscups & lovèd lilie
The pretty paunce and the chevisaunce
Shall match with the faire flower delice.
I quote from memory, but thats hard to beat don't you think? But I am all for feathery topped carrots - don't you love pulling up carrots, shaking them clean and tossing them on to a heap? And feeling the cauliflowers to see which one is ready to cut. Then OUT comes your knife. When I was about the height of a garden spade I spent weeks - months - watching a man do all these things and wandering through caves of yellow butter beans and smelling the spotted speckled broad bean flowers and helping to plant Giant Edwards and White Elephants. Oh, dear, I do love gardens! Think of little lettuces and washing radishes under the garden tap. Id better stop. I just saw you climb in to a cherry tree and leaning against the trunk of the tree I saw and smelt the sweet sticky gum. But we'll have all these things. [To Richard Murry in Collected Letters]