DIY History | Transcribe | World War I Diaries and Letters | Robert Morriss Browning correspondence to Mabel C. Williams, January-July 1919 | 1919-04-12 Robert M. Browning to Dr. Mabel C. Williams Page 3

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Robert Morriss Browning correspondence to Mabel C. Williams, January-July 1919

1919-04-12 Robert M. Browning to Dr. Mabel C. Williams Page 3

inner necessity for me to get at my life work at present.  When I was a lot younger I felt a distinct urge to attempt to do something that would get my name in the encyclopedia, something for which many would thank me.  Later I wanted to do something to make some one else happy.  Lately I've been tempted by the philosophy Browning puts in the mouth of Fra Lippo Lippi
"Flower o' the peach,
Death for us all, and his own life for each!"
This is probably a mood, by which I can tell that I haven't grown up yet.  Isn't it better to roam for a year or three before I settle down.  I'm almost my own man now, while if I owned a hen, a cow, and a bee I'd belong to them, in a way, chained to my possessions.  Besides a bachelor on a farm is not a satisfactory combination, and at present I can't summon any convincing picture of a satisfactory partner.  If I go back to advertising I wouldn't have any punch for the job.  Business success presupposes an itch for money.  I don't care for a lot of money myself.  It would take a fairly extravagant wife to make me rich.  Eventually I'll land back in a graduate college, I suppose, trying to find out Why? or at any rate How?  In the meantime don't you really think I have a play time coming after all the years.  You know I've never had a summer's vacation, a whole summer I mean, since before I went to high school and I've never travelled more than a day's journey from home, never been west of Kansas City, nor South of the Ozarks nor north of Minneapolis.  I really think I ought to see the other side of the sunset and maybe take a look toward the sunrise before I start in raising two ears of corn where only

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inner necessity for me to get at my life work at present. When I was a lot younger I felt a distinct urge to attempt to do something that would get my name in the encyclopedia, something for which many would thank me. Later I wanted to do something to make some one else happy. Lately I've been tempted by the philosophy Browning puts in the mouth of Fra Lippo Lippi "Flower o' the peach, Death for us all, and his own life for each!" This is probably a mood, by which I can tell that I haven't grown up yet. Isn't it better to roam for a year or three before I settle down. I'm almost my own man now, while if I owned a hen, a cow, and a bee I'd belong to them, in a way, chained to my possessions. Besides a bachelor on a farm is not a satisfactory combination, and at present I can't summon any convincing picture of a satisfactory partner. If I go back to advertising I wouldn't have any punch for the job. Business success presupposes an itch for money. I don't care for a lot of money myself. It would take a fairly extravagant wife to make me rich. Eventually I'll land back in a graduate college, I suppose, trying to find out Why? or at any rate How? In the meantime don't you really think I have a play time coming after all the years. You know I've never had a summer's vacation, a whole summer I mean, since before I went to high school and I've never travelled more than a day's journey from home, never been west of Kansas City, nor South of the Ozarks nor north of Minneapolis. I really think I ought to see the other side of the sunset and maybe take a look toward the sunrise before I start in raising two ears of corn where only