3886. Robert Southey to John Abraham Heraud, 26 August 1822
MS: MS untraced; text is taken from Edith Heraud, Memoirs of John A. Heraud (London, 1898)
Previously published: Edith Heraud, Memoirs of John A. Heraud (London, 1898), pp. 33–34.
My dear Heraud, – I have now an opportunity of sending back your tragedy;
but time will only allow me to say with it, that in the course of the winter I expect to visit London, and that one of the first things which I shall do there will be to look for you. For the present it will be of more advantage to you to store your mind by reading than to exercise it much in composition. Command of language you already possess, and every other requisite for a poet which nature can bestow: arrangement is what you have to learn. Your last letter with the account of your brother’s death
affected me greatly. Take care of your own health, which is best done by keeping your mind tranquil. Be not intemperate in your studies, and be not too eager for that reputation which, sooner or later, you will surely obtain. Farewell, and believe me, yours affectionately,
ROBERT SOUTHEY.
