Charles E. Burchfield (1893-1967)

Feb. 11, 1922 –; Life is a steel-gray prison. The soul struggles to free itself and suffers horrible agony because it has had a vision to which it cannot attain.; ; Feb. 15, 1922 –; Most terrible longings for my old life have assailed me tonight – I packed some of my old sketches – and they filled me with longing for the odd little events of a carefree country life – the record of a burning stump, a brook falling over a pile of stones in a hollow, and huge buttonwoods, lit up at sunset time. ; ; Feb. 16 1922 –; Great changes in our lives are not made suddenly or dramatically; nor are we conscious of m always of making the change. It is only tonight as I look about my room at my early sketches that I realize that a phase of my life has closed forever. “Forever” is a terrible word. ; “who hath desired The Sea ––––––––––––––––––----------------------; So and no otherwise – so and no otherwise Hillmen desire Their Hills!”(Feb. 18 and 21 come after the Mar. 20 Entry)