Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- Illustrations
- Credits
- Acknowledgements
- Preface
- Part I Childhood
- Part II Oxford
- Part III The Patent Office
- Part IV Re-entry to the academic life
- Part V Pastures new
- Part VI Who am I?
- Part VII Paradoxical Housman
- Part VIII Cambridge – The glittering prize
- Part IX The Great War 1914–1918
- Part X After the war
- Part XI Last Poems A Requiem for Moses Jackson
- Part XII Last Things
- Part XIII Paris 1932
- Part XIV Academic apotheosis and swansong
- Part XV Last flights to France
- Posthumous publications published by Laurence Housman
- Epilogue
- References
- Bibliography
- Index
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- Illustrations
- Credits
- Acknowledgements
- Preface
- Part I Childhood
- Part II Oxford
- Part III The Patent Office
- Part IV Re-entry to the academic life
- Part V Pastures new
- Part VI Who am I?
- Part VII Paradoxical Housman
- Part VIII Cambridge – The glittering prize
- Part IX The Great War 1914–1918
- Part X After the war
- Part XI Last Poems A Requiem for Moses Jackson
- Part XII Last Things
- Part XIII Paris 1932
- Part XIV Academic apotheosis and swansong
- Part XV Last flights to France
- Posthumous publications published by Laurence Housman
- Epilogue
- References
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
Destination Paris, Brive and the Limousin
In July 1919 Housman was thinking of touring again in France with Paris, Brive and the Limousin in his sights. He intended leaving his travels until after the end of August because ‘August heat in France might put my health out of order again’. Richards earned further credit from Housman as his ‘guardian angel’ for taking charge of getting him a visa. Richards was always willing to go the extra mile to be of service to his author. Such care and attention helped to cement their relationship. Housman also made the effort to stay with the Richards for two nights on his way home. Housman was now in a position of being able to smooth the rough edges of travel by using hire cars: ‘After my sacrifices for my country during the war I am beginning to spend money on myself instead of saving it up for the Welsh miners’, a reference to the money he had sent to the Chancellor of the Exchequer at the beginning of the war and the Welsh miners who were threatening to strike as a protest against new income tax regulations. He was also revealing himself as willing to fit in with others, go out of his way to see friends and take on more complexity than many others would at the end of a holiday.
During Housman's tour, he kept in touch with Richards, writing to him from Brive, characteristically always planning ahead and never falling into the stereotype of the absent-minded don. When Richards turned up unexpectedly in Paris on business, Housman wrote to him from the Hotel Terminus:
This is a great pleasure, apart from its unexpectedness. It will be no good looking for me here this evening, and I am also engaged tomorrow evening and Monday evening; otherwise I have no tie.
Usually I leave the hotel not long after 9, and tomorrow I will look you up at the Normandy soon after that time, unless I hear from you to the contrary.
It is surprising to find that Housman was so fully occupied, but it is more surprising to find that he did not seek to involve Richards in his plans or give any indication of what they were. Housman was showing his enigmatic side; the content of his communications seemed always to be governed by the principle of ‘need to know’.
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- A.E. HousmanHero of the Hidden Life, pp. 246 - 262Publisher: Boydell & BrewerPrint publication year: 2018