Charles E. Burchfield (1893-1967)

to bristle, and the blood of boys and men to quicken. And to think that somewhere even now, (and formerly to a greater degree) there are men & women who seek by fasting and prayer to drive this hot impulse to life out of their bodies. And now a man becomes jealous at the least senile suggestion in his make-up; so I sit here in a dull stuffy room; my blood sluggish from unaccustomed inaction, and envy the world outside. My body is properly subdued, but complaints, not prayers rise in my heart.; In rummaging thru my books a moment ago I came across “The Release of the Soul,” which aroused new thoughts of anger within me. The last sentence in the book is as follows: “The Formula of Work, Religion, Art in relation to humanity is a very admirable working hypothesis is which man has ludicrously attempted not only to substitute for but to impose upon the terrible reality whose loveliness is so far beyond expression that it can only be dreamed of in a silence reinforced by the soul, bringing to the eager patient spirit both the boundless love of God and the sweet and gentle power of humanity, even at its worst, to sustain and to survive to tragedies. Credo”. It was with infinite delight