Time to think

Saturday, December 14th., Yacht Club, London.

 

Interview with Lillah McCarthy and Drinkwater at Adelphi Terrace at 12.45. I promised to write "Judith" by the end of January, and they promised to produce "Don Juan" also. In the afternoon Captain Basil Dean came to see me about his London theatrical scheme. He said he could get and control £20,000. I definitely promised to write a play for him too. This, with Goodall's, Vedrenne's, and Lillah's, makes four plays!

We dined at the Galsworthy's, Grove Lodge, Hampstead, and the Masefield's were there. Mrs. M. and I got on excellently. Masefield gloomyish and very precise in diction. Fine voice. Diction of a public speaker. Galsworthy very nice. Ada Galsworthy adorable. 

 

Got into conversation with an American by the name of Wright. Interesting chap. Ascetic appearance. Metal frame glasses. I think he is a professor, but that doesn't mean the same in the U.S. as it does here. Told me he was a convert to buddhism, not as a religion but as a way of life. Asked me if I had tried meditation? I said I had no time to meditate. He said: "You don't have time not to meditate". That made me think. He said he had read some of my self-help books and found them valuable but the key to contentment was in control of one's mind, and that could only be achieved through meditation. Not as onerous as you might imagine apparently. I have been thinking about this since and I suppose I have a sort of meditation when I am walking at times: stepping out, breathing deeply, focussing on the moment, dismissing intrusive thoughts. Wish I had shared that with him.. There may be something in it.

A writers' dinner

Saturday, December 14th., Yacht Club, London.

Interview with Lillah McCarthy and Drinkwater at Adelphi Terrace at 12.45. I promised to write "Judith" by the end of January, and they promised to produce "Don Juan" also. In the afternoon Captain Basil Dean came to see me about his London theatrical scheme. He said he could get and control £20,000. I definitely promised to write a play for him, too. This with Goodall's, Vedrenne's and Lillah's makes 4 plays!
Also see 'Indecent exposure', April 11th. -
http://earnoldbennett.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/indecent-exposure.html

Ada Galsworthy

We dined at the Galsworthy's, Grove Lodge, Hampstead, and the Masefields were there. Mrs. M. and I got on excellently. Masefield gloomyish, and very precise in diction. Fine voice. diction of a public speaker. Galsworthy very nice. Ada Galsworthy adorable. Speaking of Masefield, there was a time when people desirous of being in the movement could not neglect their contemporary poetry. That time has passed. Then, conscientious persons, after accepting an invitation to dinner, if they had not read the latest poetry, would run out and buy it. Masefield's first long narrative poems made people ignore the fish at dinner. Not now. The reason in my opinion is that modern poetry has been revolutionary. The old material was scrapped and the old forms stretched until they snapped like elastic bands. The British public is not partial to revolutions. It believes that your revolutionary, be he a poet or a socialist, is most effectively dealt with by leaving him alone.

John Galsworthy OM (1867 – 1933) was an English novelist and playwright. Notable works include The Forsyte Saga (1906–1921) and its sequels, A Modern Comedy and End of the Chapter. He won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1932.

John Edward Masefield, (1878 - 1967), was an English poet and writer, and Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom from 1930 until his death in 1967. He is remembered as the author of the classic children's novels The Midnight Folk and The Box of Delights, and poems, including "The Everlasting Mercy" and "Sea-Fever".

Additionally for December 14th., see 'A little decadence' -

http://earnoldbennett.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/a-little-decadence.html

Davaray told me that to have de Regnier dangling his legs from a corner of a table and talking obscenities in his calm exquisitely polished way, was a delightful experience.