I awoke a little after four o'clock. There was sunlight upon the blind,
that pure gold of the earliest beam which always makes me think of
Dante's angels. I had slept unusually well, without a dream, and felt
the blessing of rest through all my frame; my head was clear, my pulse
beat temperately. And, when I had lain thus for a few minutes, asking
myself what book I should reach from the shelf that hangs near my pillow,
there came upon me a desire to rise and go forth into the early morning.
On the moment I bestirred myself. The drawing up of the blind, the
opening of the window, only increased my zeal, and I was soon in the
garden, then out in the road, walking light-heartedly I cared not
whither.
How long is it since I went forth at the hour of summer sunrise? It is
one of the greatest pleasures, physical and mental, that any man in
moderate health can grant himself; yet hardly once in a year do mood and
circumstance combine to put it within one's reach. The habit of lying in
bed hours after broad daylight is strange enough, if one thinks of it; a
habit entirely evil; one of the most foolish changes made by modern
system in the healthier life of the old time. But that my energies are
not equal to such great innovation, I would begin going to bed at sunset
and rising with the beam of day; ten to one, it would vastly improve my
health, and undoubtedly it would add to the pleasures of my existence.
When travelling, I have now and then watched the sunrise, and always with
an exultation unlike anything produced in me by other aspects of nature.
I remember daybreak on the Mediterranean; the shapes of islands growing
in hue after hue of tenderest light, until they floated amid a sea of
glory. And among the mountains--that crowning height, one moment a cold
pallor, the next soft-glowing under the touch of the rosy-fingered
goddess. These are the things I shall never see again; things, indeed,
so perfect in memory that I should dread to blur them by a newer
experience. My senses are so much duller; they do not show me what once
they did.
How far away is that school-boy time, when I found a pleasure in getting
up and escaping from the dormitory whilst all the others were still
asleep. My purpose was innocent enough; I got up early only to do my
lessons. I can see the long school-room, lighted by the early sun; I can
smell the school-room odour--a blend of books and slates and wall-maps
and I know not what. It was a mental peculiarity of mine that at five
o'clock in the morning I could apply myself with gusto to mathematics, a
subject loathsome to me at any other time of the day. Opening the book
at some section which was wont to scare me, I used to say to myself:
"Come now, I'm going to tackle this this morning! If other boys can
understand it, why shouldn't I?" And in a measure I succeeded. In a
measure only; there was always a limit at which my powers failed me,
strive as I would.
In my garret-days it was seldom that I rose early: with the exception of
one year--or the greater part of a twelvemonth--during which I was
regularly up at half-past five for a special reason. I had undertaken to
"coach" a man for the London matriculation; he was in business, and the
only time he could conveniently give to his studies was before breakfast.
I, just then, had my lodgings near Hampstead Road; my pupil lived at
Knightsbridge; I engaged to be with him every morning at half-past six,
and the walk, at a brisk pace, took me just about an hour. At that time
I saw no severity in the arrangement, and I was delighted to earn the
modest fee which enabled me to write all day long without fear of hunger;
but one inconvenience attached to it. I had no watch, and my only means
of knowing the time was to hear the striking of a clock in the
neighbourhood. As a rule, I awoke just when I should have done; the
clock struck five, and up I sprang. But occasionally--and this when the
mornings had grown dark--my punctual habit failed me; I would hear the
clock chime some fraction of the hour, and could not know whether I had
awoke too soon or slept too long. The horror of unpunctuality, which has
always been a craze with me, made it impossible to lie waiting; more than
once I dressed and went out into the street to discover as best I could
what time it was, and one such expedition, I well remember, took place
between two and three o'clock on a morning of foggy rain.
It happened now and then that, on reaching the house at Knightsbridge, I
was informed that Mr. --- felt too tired to rise. This concerned me
little, for it meant no deduction of fee; I had the two hours' walk, and
was all the better for it. Then the appetite with which I sat down to
breakfast, whether I had done my coaching or not! Bread and butter and
coffee--such coffee!--made the meal, and I ate like a navvy. I was in
magnificent spirits. All the way home I had been thinking of my day's
work, and the morning brain, clarified and whipped to vigour by that
brisk exercise, by that wholesome hunger, wrought its best. The last
mouthful swallowed, I was seated at my writing-table; aye, and there I
sat for seven or eight hours, with a short munching interval, working as
only few men worked in all London, with pleasure, zeal, hope. . . .
Yes, yes, those were the good days. They did not last long; before and
after them were cares, miseries, endurance multiform. I have always felt
grateful to Mr. --- of Knightsbridge; he gave me a year of health, and
almost of peace.