Fluctuations of mind about work.
The fluctuations of mind which I underwent about every number of my work, were as regular as the tides. I was fired with the first conception, and believed that I had found a treasure. Then, while at work, I alternately admired and despised what I wrote. When finished, I was in absolute despair; and then, when I saw it in print, I was surprised to see how well it looked.
Harriet Martineau: ‘Autobiography.’
George Eliot on ‘The Crofton Boys.’
What an exquisite little thing that is of Harriet Martineau’s—‘The Crofton Boys!’ I have had some delightful crying over it. There are two or three lines in it that would feed one’s soul for a month. Hugh’s mother says to him, speaking of people who have permanent sorrow, “They soon had a new and delicious pleasure, which none but the bitterly disappointed can feel—the pleasure of rousing their souls to bear pain, and of agreeing with God silently, when nobody knows what is in their hearts.”
Marian Evans: Letter to Mrs. Bray, 1845. ‘George Eliot’s Life,’ edited by J. W. Cross.
Carlyle on ‘Deerbrook’.