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24 October 1880 — Ca’ Capello, Venice | |
Sunday. 24th [October 1880]. I went to the service at 11.30 & met Ella there. We sat together. The Drakes came to lunch with us & Ella arranged all my fans for me. Mrs Alexander Bagot came to see our pictures after lunch & Mr Blumenthal called. The Drakes, we, & Mr Burton went out to call on Mr Rawdon Brown. He was not in. We went on to the Church of the Frari. I very much admired the Bellini in the sacristy– The church is full of beautiful tombs &c &c. We went on to the Scuola di San Rocco to see the fine Tintorettos– The building is very well preserved & is still used as a council hall for a charitable society. We then went on to the Church of S. Rocco but it was too dark to see anything—as we came out we found it was raining but there was a lovely curious lurid light over the towers of the churches—then wind began & we had to hurry home to escape the storm which raged—thunder & lightening & torrents of rain. The Drakes stayed to dinner. Mr & Miss Browning dined with us & after dinner while the others were smoking the Poet remained with the ladies & entertained us. He talked much of Tennyson & the way people admired & spoilt him. He says a friend once told him that they met poor dear Mrs Cameron in an omnibus with an empty bottle in her hand wh she proclaimed to everybody she was taking to the chemist to get filled with castor oil for the poet laureate! He was loud in denunciation of Mr Knowles the architect who he says exploités Tennyson for the sake of the money he makes by having his writing in the Nineteenth Century without any regard to the harm he does Tennyson in making him publish bad productions. Browning said that K. had hunted out of Tennyson’s desk that Hallelujah wh he had written on his son Hallam’s birth & wh he had forgotten to burn—& had assured T. that it was a very fine thing & he wd give him £5 a line for it– Tennyson had been taken by it—& every body laughed at him– The Drakes took leave of us as they leave for England by the first train tomorrow. | |
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