Dickens at Bonchurch, 1849
by Alan Ross
'The prettiest place I ever saw my life, at home or abroad –
Charles Dickens in a letter to his wife, Kate.
The sea curved like a cutlass,
Through pines a presentiment
Of blue. 'Invisible till 2'
He instructed, and stuck to it
Regardless, back to the view.
Later, visibility restored,
He held court: Carlyle and Tennyson,
Thackeray. 'Much good merriment,'
Rounders on the beach, swimming,
Diversions for the easily bored.
Not just writing. Daily he frolicked
Among bamboos and willow,
Showered under a contraption rigged
To his own design. The lace
Of the sea fretted around his feet.
And always Copperfield proceeding apace.
Saturday, October 14, 2017
Dickens at Bonchurch, 1849
From The Spectator, 22 May, 1993
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