196 THE LIFE OF RICHARD JEFFERIES 



expand so as to ' correspond in magnitude of conception ' 

 with sun and sea. This immeasurable soul-hfe which 

 he desires is always associated with the flesh, as in its 

 origin it was associated with his own senses. Nothing 

 is of any use unless it gives him a stronger body and mind. 

 Again he demands a larger frame, a longer day, more 

 sunshine, a longer sleep to accumulate new force. And 

 this is the manner of his demand : 



' I live by the sea now ; I can see nothing of it in a 

 day ; why, I do but get a breath of it, and the sun sinks 

 before I have well begun to think. Life is so little and 

 so mean. I dream sometimes backwards of the ancient 

 times. If I could but have the bow of Ninus, and the earth 

 full of wild bulls and lions, to hunt them down, there 

 would be rest in that. To shoot with a gun is nothing ; 

 a mere touch discharges it. Give me a bow, that I may 

 enjoy the delight of feeling myself draw the string and 

 the strong wood bending, that I may see the rush of the 

 arrow, and the broad head bury itself deep in shaggy 

 hide. Give me an iron mace that I may crush the savage 

 beast and hammer him down. A spear to thrust through 

 with, so that I may feel the long blade enter and the push 

 of the shaft. The unwearied strength of Ninus to hunt 

 unceasingly in the fierce sun. Still I should desire 

 greater strength and a stouter bow, wilder creatures to 

 combat. The intense life of the senses, there is never 

 enough for them. I envy Semiramis ; I would have 

 been ten times Semiramis. I envy Nero, because of the 

 great concourse of beauty he saw. I should like to be 

 loved by every beautiful woman on earth, from the swart 

 Nubian to the white and divine Greek. 



' Wine is pleasant and meat refreshing ; but though I 

 own with absolute honesty that I like them, these are the 

 least of all. Of these two only have I ever had enough. 

 The vehemence of exertion, the vehemence of the spear, 

 the vehemence of sunlight and life, the insatiate desire 

 of insatiate Semiramis, the still more insatiate desire of 

 love, divine and beautiful, the uncontrollable adoration 



