Chapter 7: An Important Episode in My Oxford Life. Alfred Brooke

Abstract

Working thus and living in a very varied society at Oxford, I maintained the dual life—emotional and intellectual—esoteric and external—which had been habitual.It was a period of great activity. At Balliol I devoted my time mainly to writing essays and making the necessary studies for them. But I worked even harder at Clifton. All the morning was given up to the books I had to prepare for examination. In the afternoon I walked or rode alone, consuming my heart with vain longing, and writing the lyrics which are called ‘Dead Love’. I usually read again from 5 p.m. till 6.30 p.m.; dined almost always in company, at my father’s house or abroad with friends; sat up talking till a late hour with my father in his library, and then snatched a short unrefreshing sleep. I dreamed very vividly, and suffered from seminal losses.