Page:Marie Corelli - the writer and the woman (IA mariecorelliwrit00coat).pdf/50

 *mitted was of opinion that the writing of novels was not her forte. She took the opinion seriously, and decided to write no more, but to complete her musical training and look to the concert platform as the means of livelihood. She had already composed quite a large number of poems, some of which were subsequently torn up, some remain unpublished, and some have found a place in her books. A strong poetical tendency is evident throughout all her books, and is particularly prominent in "Ardath," a great portion of which is almost as much poetry as prose. Two letters, written by Eric Mackay at this time, and now preserved in Miss Corelli's autograph album, are particularly interesting. One ran:

"I am happier than I have been since boyhood, for I have a little sister again, and that little sister—the best and brightest in the world—does everything for me. But how far short of your ambition for me must I fall!—for you have already done so much in your short life—you, a child, and I, alas! a man growing old."

And in another he said:

"I must thank you for sending me the little Keats volume. Curiously enough, I never read his poems at all before. Browning I can't stand, but if you like him I must read him. You seem to live in an