This item is part of a collection of autograph letters and manuscripts of War Poetry related to World War I; see collection record (MA 5141) for more information.
Detailing at length his woes; "I am like a hulk fast in weeds of the Sargasso Sea. Below the long-vanished Plimsoll line. Always overdrawn; half a dozen children; a sister with 2 boys to look after (her husband having cut & run); a mother dying of cancer & desperately sad, like a lark with one wing gone trying to escape from a cage; a helpless brother-in-law here, who won't help himself & won't 'bother' (so it falls on me, already overstrained by writing). A tale of woe, indeed...Forgive this Jobian weekness, If only one could escape & have peace & relaxation from the everlasting jangling concert-pitch. Gipsy[his wife, Letitia Hibbert] is not happy either; she was prepared for a life of contentment on money coming from nowhere - & that's gone - her family penniless - and they don't realize how a worker can have strains & stresses. Again, forgive this weak-man's stuff. But it is my news. I long to leave Devon for ever..."