AUGUST 1935

The garden harvest includes aubergines, pimentos and tomatoes. Graves makes blackberry and apple jam and green-tomato pickle in the kitchen, plants dahlias with Sebastian and enjoys the first melons of the season. Much of the month is very hot - 36 degrees in the shade, writes Graves - and the dispute about water rights drags on.

But the hot weather does not deter summer revels: Graves enjoys watching Riding dress up for the bullfights - Laura in yellow, with net gloves & amethyst ring - and the two enjoy evenings with Schwarz and Strenge, drinking and spreading alegria.joy,merriment eds. There is some tension beneath the surface, however: Riding is drinking whiskey due to her difficulty with work, and when Kilham Roberts wires to say he wants to use only the end part of Letter from Majorca, Graves and Riding refuse to compromise on its length. The poem is published in Focus IV instead.

Maisie Somerville writes with a photo of her friend John Ewen and an account of his accidental death. Honor also writes: Gordon has apparently returned to his Canadian mistress, Molly. Graves exchanges letters with Hogarth Press about a profit-sharing scheme, and with Constable about business names for Seizin Press. (Tax collectors come to demand a yearly amount from the Press - Graves is convinced that it is the doctor who alerted the authorities.)

Graves continues his work on Richards' Old Soldier Sahib, finishes the introduction, and sends a sample to Harrison Smith. The publisher tentatively agrees to publish the book if the remainder is up to the same standard. Graves has Riding read over his recent poetry: It was agreed to scrap "Address to Myself" & I am to write two more. He also drafts a new poem, but deems it of no use I think. Frau Thelin has taken over the translation of Schwartz's Almost Forgotten Times (later Almost Forgotten Germany). She completes the work, and Graves begins to go over the piece, editing and rewriting where necessary. He is also doing work on Poets for Riding's Subjects of Knowledge series.

Together, Graves and Riding check the proofs of Reeves' A Natural Need, but the number of printer errors makes the task frustrating. They are also busy with the Epilogue proofs and Riding's A Trojan Ending (Riding sends off two chapters to Constable). Riding also begins a new poem: We Are the Resurrection.

Near the end of the month, Graves writes Liddell-Hart with the suggestion that they co-author a book on T. E. Lawrence.

The political situation in Europe moves a few steps closer to Deyá: a German is arrested at Soller with a wireless transmitter. Graves begins spending evenings in the village - often with Karl - listening to a radio that receives English stations.