Write poetry for its own sake; not in a spirit of emulation, and not with a view to celebrity; the less you aim at that the more likely you will be to deserve and finally to obtain it.

So written, it is wholesome both for the heart and soul; it may be made the surest means, next to religion, of soothing the mind and elevating it.

You may embody in it your best thoughts and your wisest feelings, and in so doing discipline and strengthen them.
"Farewell, madam.

It is not because I have forgotten that I was once young myself, that I write to you in this strain; but because I remember it.

You will neither doubt my sincerity nor my good will; and however ill what has here been said may accord with your present views and temper, the longer you live the more reasonable it will appear to you.
Though I may be but an ungracious adviser, you will allow me, therefore, to subscribe myself, with the best wishes for your happiness here and hereafter, your true friend, "ROBERT SOUTHEY." * * * * * I was with Miss Bronte when she received Mr.Cuthbert Southey's note, requesting her permission to insert the foregoing letter in his father's life.