EVELYN W.

AUGH

5 'The State is granting her a supplementary ration of her hus- VIRGINIA WOOLF
band's company, you mean. . . .' (pug. 94, lines rg & zo). Why
does John Verney say this ? Is it the State or his wife that he
really despises?
Kew Gardens*
6 't'That's what all you bureaucrats want," he said, "Equality
through slavery. The two-class state-proletarians and officials"'
(pug. 93, lines 37 & gB). What doesJohn Verney mean by this?
How far do you think this is true of contemporary life ?

vrRGrNrA woolF was born in London in

rBBz. She was educated at home by her father
Leslie Stephen-and in Igrz married
-Sir
Leonard Woolf. She and her husband
established the nor'v famous Hogarth Press in
r9r7.
She began to pubiish her fiction at the
beginning of the First World War, and
belonged to a group of writers called 'The
Bloomsbury Group'. She was largely
concerned with enlarging the previously
restricted subject matter thought suitable for
fiction at the beginning of this century in
England. Often her works are a combination
of primarily autobiographical material and a
method of poetic intensity, and this is seen
most successfully in her novel To The
Lighthouse (rge7) which is generally
acknowledged to be her masterpiece,
At the time of her death in rg4r she had
achieved a prominent place in English fiction
and had also established a very considerable
reputation as a literary critic, essayist, and
writer of short stories.
* Kew Gardens: well-known botanical gardens situated just outside the
centre ofLondon,
r04
 KEW GARDDNS
thought that if it settled there, on that leaf, the broad one with
the red florver in the middle of it, if the dragonfly settied on the
leaf she would say "Yes" at once. But the dragonfly went round
f,.rRo\r rHE ovAL-sHApED flowcr-bed there rose perhaps a and round: it never settled anylvhere--of cour.se not, happilv
f hundred stalks spreading into lieart-shapcd or tongue-shaped not, or I shouldn't be walking here with Eleanor and the child-
Ieaves haltrvay up ancl unfurling at tl-re tip red or blue or yellow ren. -Iell me, Eieanor. D'you ever think of the past?'
petals marked rvith spots of colour raised upon the surface ; and 'Why do you ask, Simon?'
from tl-re red, blue or yellorv gloom of the throat emerged a 'Because I've been thinliing of the past. I've been thinking of
straight bar, roueh with gold dust and slightly clubbed at the Lily, the woman I might have married. . . . Well, why are you
cnd. l'he petals \'vere voluminous cnoush to be stirred by the sum- silent? I)o you rnind my thinking of the past?' ro
mer breezc, and rvhcn they moved, the red' blue and yellow 'Why should I mind, Simon ? Doesn't one always think of the
ligirts passecl onc over the other, staining an inch of the brown past, in a garden rvith men and women lying under the trees ?
earth bcneath rvith a spot of the moist intricate colour. T'he light IO Aren't they one's past, ail that rernains of it, those men and
feil either upon the smooth, grey back of a pcbbie, or, the shell women, those ghosts lyine under thc trees, . one's happiness,
of a snail rvith its bror'vn, circular veils, or falling into a raindrop, one's reality?'
it expandecl with such intensity olred, blue and yellor'v the thin 'For me, a square silver shoe buckle and a dragonlly--'
walls of r,vater that one expected them to burst ancl disappear. 'For me, a kiss. Imagine six little girls sitting before their easels
f nstcad, the drop rvas left in a second silvcr grey once more, and twenty years aso, down by the side of a iake, painting the rvater-
the light norv settled upon the flesh of a leaf, revealing the lilies, the first red tvater-lilies I'd ever seen. And suddeniy a kiss,
branching thread of fibre beneath the surface, and again it there on the back of my neck. And my hand shook all the after- zo
moved on and spread its illumination in the vast green spaces noon so that I couldn't paint. I took out my watch and marked
beneath the dome ofthc heart-shaped and tongue-shaped leaves. the hour when I would allow myself to think ol the kiss for {ive
Then the brecze stirred rather more briskly overhead and the minutes only-it was so precious-the kiss of an old grey-haired
colour rvas flashed into the air above, into the eyes olthe men and wornan rvith a wart on her nose, the mother oI'all my kisses all
womcn '"vho rvalk in Kew Gardens in July. my iife. Come, Caroline, come, Flubert.'
The figures of these mcn and women stragglcd past the They walked on past the flower-bed, now rvalking lour abreast,
fior,-er-bed with a curiously irregular movement not unlike that and soon diminished in size among the trees and looked half
of the u'hite ancl blue butterflies who crosscd the turf in zig-zag transparent as the sunlight and shade srvam ovcr thcir backs in
flights from bcd to bed. The man was about six inches in front large trembling irregular patches.
of the woman, strolling carelessly, whiie she bore on with In the oval flower-bed the snail, lvhose shell had been stainecl 3o
greater purpose, only turning her head now and then to see that red, blue and yellow for tire space of two minutes or soi now ap- -
the children r,r'ere not too hr behind. The man kept this distance peared to be moving very slightly in its shell, and next began to
in front of the woman purposely, though perhaps unconsciously, 3o labour over the crumbs of loose earth which broke away and
for he wished to go on with his thoughts. rolled down as it passed over them. It appe:rrcd to have a
'Fifteen years ago I came here with Lily,' he thought. 'We sat definite goal in front of it, dillering in this respect from the
somer,vhere over there by a lake and I begged her to marry me all singular high steppine angular sreen insect r.vho attempted to
through the hot afternoon. l{or,v the dragonfly kept circling round cross in front of it, and waited for a seconcl u,.ith its antennae
us: how clearly I see the dragonfly and her shoe rvith the square trembling as if in deliberation, and then stepped off as rapiclly
silvcr buckle at the toe. All the time I spoke I sar'v her shoe and and strangely in the opposite direction. Brown cliffs with deep
when it moved impatiently I knew rvithcut looking up what she green lakes in the hollows, flat, blade-like trees that waved from
4o
was eoing to say: the whole of her seemed to be in her shoe. And root to tip, round boulders of grey stone, vast crumpled surfaces
my love, my desire, rvere in the dragonfly; for some reason f of a thin crackling texture-all these objects lay across the snail's

ro6 r07
VIRGINIA WOOLF KE\^/ GARDENS
progress between one stalk and another to his goal. Before he had of Uruguay blanketed with the wax petals of tropical roses,
decided whether to circumvent the arched tent of a dead leaf or nightingales, sea beaches, rnermaids, and women drowned at
to breast it there came past the bed the feet of other human sea, as he suffered himself to be moved on by William, upon
beings. whose face the look of stoical patience grew slowly deeper anci
This time they were both men. The younger of the two lvore deeper.
an expression of perhaps unnatural calm; he raised his eyes and Foilowing his steps so closely as to be slightly puzzled by his
fixed them very steadily in front of him while his companion gestures came two elderly women of the lower middle class, one
spoke, and directly his companion irad done speaking he looked stout and ponderous, the other rosy cheeked and nimble. Like
on the ground again and sometimes opened his lips only after a most people of their stationr they were frankly fascinated by any
long pause and sometimes did not open them at all. The elder to signs o-f eccentricity betokening a disordered brain, especiuily ir, ,o
man had a curiously uneven and shaky method of waiking' the well-to-do; but thev we re too far off to be certain whe ther the
jerking his hand forrvard and throwing up his head abruptly, gestures were merely eccentric or genuinelv mad. After they had
rather in the manner of an irnpatient carriage horse tired of scrutinized the old man's back in silerrce for a moment and given
waiting outside a house; but in the man these gestures were each
-other
a queer, sly look, they went on energetically piecing
irresolute and pointless. F{e talked almost incessantly; he smiled together their very cornplicated dialogue:
to himself and again began to talk, as if the smile had been an 'Nell, Bert, Lot, Cess, Phil, Pa, he says, f says, she says, f
answer. He was talking about spirits-the spirits of the dead, who, says, I says--'
according to him, were even now telling him all sorts of odd things 'N[y Bert, Sis, Bill, Grandad, the old man, sugar,
about their experiences in lleaven. Sugar, flour, kippers, greens,2
'Fleaven was known to the ancients as Thessaly, William, and zo Sugar, sugar, sugar.'
now, with this war, the spirit matter is rolling between thc hills The ponderous woman looked through the pattern of falling
like thunder.' IIe paused, seemed to listen, smiled, jerkeC his rvords at the flowers standing cool, firm, and upri6;ht in thi
head and continued: earth, with a curious expression. She saw them as a sleeper
'You have a small electric battery and a piece of rubber to ]vlkilC from a heavy sleep sees a brass candlestick r:eflecting ihe
insulate the wire-isolate ?-insulate ?-n'ell, r,ve'll skiir the ligirt in an unfamiliar way, and closes his eyes and opens tf,em,
details, no good going into details that wouldn't be understoocl- and seeing the brass candlestick again, finally stirts broad
and in short the little machine stands in any convenient position awake and stares at the candlestick with all his powers. So the
by the head of the bed, we will say, on a neat mahogany stzrnd. heavy woman carle to a standstili opposite the oval-shaped
All amangements being properly fixed by workmen under my florver-bed, and ceased even to pretend to listen to what the
direction, the widow applies her ear and summons the spirit by" 3o other-woman was saying. She stood there letting the words fall
3o
sign as agreed. Women! Widows! Women in black-' over her, swaying the top part of her body slowly backwards
Here he seemed to have caught sight of a woman's dress in the and forwards, looking at the flowers. Then she suggested that
distance, which in the shade looked a purple black. He took off they should find a seat and have their tea.
his hat, placed his hand upon his heart, and hurried towards The snail had now considered every possible method of reach-
her muttering and gesticulating feverishly. But William caught ing_his goal without going round the dead leaf or climbing over
him by the sleeve and touched a flower with the tip of his walk- it. Let alone the effort needed for climbing a leat he was doubtflul
ing-stick in order to divert the old man's attention. After iooking whether the thin texture which vibrated lvith such an alarming
at it for a moment in some confusion the old man bent his ear to crackle when touched even by the tip of his horns would bear hii
it and seemed to answer a voice speaking from it, for he began weight; and this determined hirn finally to creep beneath it, for
talking about the forests of Uruguay which he had visited hun- 4o
dreds of years ago in company rvith the most beautiful young 1 their station: their position or status in life.
2 greens: the colloquial name for any green vegetables.
woman in Europe. He could be heard murmuring about forests

roB r09
 KEW GARDENS
VIRGINIA WOOLF
'Come along, Trissie; it's time we had our tea.'
there was a point where the leaf curved high enough from the 'Wherever "does" one have one's tea?' she asked with the
ground to admit him. He had just inserted his head in the open- oddest thrill o{'excitement in her voice, looking vaguely round
ing and was taking stock of the high brown roof and was getting and letting herself be drawn on dolvn the grass path, trailing
used to the cool brown light when tu'o other people came past her parasol, turning her head this way and that way forgetting
outside on the turf. This time they rvere both young, a young her tea, wishing to go down there and then down there, re-
rnan and a young woman. 'Ihey were both in the prime of youth, membering orchids and cranes among wild fiolvers, a Chinese
or even in that season rvhich precedes the prime of youth, the pagoda and a crimson crested bird; but he bore her on.
season before the smooth pink folds of the flower have burst their
-
th.,r one couple after another rvith much the same imegular
gummy case, lvhen the wings of the butterfly, though fully grorvn, and aimless movement passed the flower-bed and were enveloped Io
are motionless in the sun. Io in layer after layer of green blue vapour, in which at first their
'Lucky it isn't Friday,' he observed. bodies had substance and a dash of colour,l but later both sub-
'Why? D'you believe in luck?' stance and colour dissolved in the green-blue atmosphere. Florv
'They make you pay sixpence on Friday.' hot was! So hot that even the thrush chose to hop, like a
it
'What's sixpence anyway? Isn't it worth sixpence?' mechanical bird, in the shadow of the flowers, with long pauses
(ci1"-1y121
'What's do you mean by "it"?' between one movement and the next; instead of rambling
'O, anything-I inean-you know what I mean.' vaguely the white butterflies danced one above another, making
LongJ pauscs came between each of these rernarks; they rvere with their white shifting flakes the outline of a shattered marble
uttered in toneless and monotonous voices. The couple stood still column above the tallest flowers; the glass roofs of the palm-
on the edge of the flo."ver-bed, and together pressed the end of'her house shone as if a whole market full of shiny green umbrellas zo
parasol deep down into the soft earth. The action and the fact 20 had opened in the sun; and in the drone of the aeroplane the
that his hand rested on the top ofhers expressed their feelings in voice tf the summer sky murmured its fierce soul' Yellow and
a strange way, as these short insignificant rvords also expressed black, pink and snow white, shapes of all these colours, men,
something, words with short wings for their heavy body of rvorn.n, and children rvere spotted for a second upon the horizon,
meaning, inadequate to carry them far and thus alighting and then, seeing the breadth ofyellow that lay upon the grass,
awkwardly upon the very common objects that surrounded they navered and sought shade beneath the trees, dissolving like
them, and were to their inexperienced touch so massive; but drops of rvater in the yellow and green atmosphere, staining it
who knows (so they thought as they pressed the parasol into the fainily with red and blue. It seemed as if all gross and heary
earth) 'lr'hat precipices aren't concealed in them, or what slopes bodies had sunk dorvn in the heat motionless and lay huddled
of ice don't shine in the sun on the other side ? Who knows ? Who upon the ground, but their voices lvent wavering from them as 3o
has ever seen this before ? Even when she wondered what sorl of 3o iflhey *..i flu-.t lolling from the thick waxen bodies.of candles.
tea they gave you at Kew, he felt that something loomed up Voices. Yes, voices. Wordless voices, breaking the silence suddenly
behind her words, and stood vast and solid behind them; and with such depth of contentment, such passion of desire, or, in the
the mist very slowly rose and uncovered-O, Heavens, what voices ofchildren, such freshness of surprise; breaking the -"ilence ?
were those shapes ?-little white tables, and waitresses who But there was no silence; all the time the motor omnibuses were
looked first at her and then at him; and there was a bill that he turning their wheels and changing their gear; like a vast nest of
would pay with a real two shilling piece, and it was real, all Chinese boxes all of '"vrought steel turning ceaselessly one within
real, he assured himself, fingering the coin in his pocket, real to anotller the city murmured; on the top of rvhich the voices cried
everyone except to him and to her; even to him it began to seem aloud and the petals of myriads of flowers flashed their colours
real; and then-but it rvas too exciting to stand and think any into the air. 4o
longer, and he pulled the parasol out of the earth rvith a jerk 4o
1a dash of colour: a very small amount oicolour'
and was impatient to find the place where one had tea with other
people, like other people.

IIO
VIRGINIA ]^r'OOLF KEW GARDENS

6'Doesn't one always think of the past,' . .?' (page ro7, line rr)'
Usdul Phrases What would your reply be to this question ?
r to walk abreast (page ro7, line a6)-to walk side by side. 7 'in the voices of children, such freshness ofsurprise;l (n1qe r 1 t,
z to skip something (page ro8, line z5)-to leave something out, to lines 33 & 34).What does the author mean by this? Use this
omit. quotation as the theme for an essay or discussion'
3 to catch sight of (page ro8, line 3z)-to notice or to glimpse.
4 to suffer oneself (page ro9, line 3)-to allow oneself.
5 well-to-do (page ro9, line r r)-rich, prosperous.
6 to start broad awake (page lo9, lines z6 & z7)-to become sud-
denly and completely awake.
7 to come to a standstill (page rog, line z8)-to come to a complete
stop.
B let alone (page ro9, line 36)-not to mention, apart from.
g to take stock of (page r ro, line 3)-to examine carefully in order
to find out what is there.

Qtestions to guide.-the reader and atso.fbr further discussion or essa) writling

I Explain carefully what the author is trying to express in the
following quotations:
a 'the whole of her seemed to be in her shoe' (page ro6, line 3B).
6 'shade swam over their backs in large trembling irregular
patches' (page ro7, lines eB & zg).
c 'forests of Uruguay blanketed with the wax petals of tropical
roses,' (page ro8-9, lines 4z & r).
d 'the season before the smooth pink folds of the flower have burst
their gummy case, when the wings of the butterfly, though fully
grown, are motionless in the sun' (page rro, lines 7-ro).
e 'and in the drone of the aeroplane the voice of the summer sky
murmured its fierce soul' (page : r r, lines zr & zz). .

z What differences are suggested between the four groups of people

walking in Kerv Gardens?

3 What are the descriptions of (a) Nature, (6) machines intended to

suggestin the story?

4 Do the various people, or Nature hersell play the more important

role in suggesting the main theme of this story ?

5 What evidence is there in this story of the writer's poetic sensibi-

lity?

tt2 II3