FLUSH: Cocker Spaniel in Literature

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways...

Who in their lifetime has not heard these lines? Often quoted at weddings, Elizabeth Barrett Browning's poem, How do I love thee?, has resounded through the decades as one of the most well-loved, well known love poems of all time.

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.

I love thee to the depth and breadth and height

My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight

For the ends of Being and Ideal Grace.

I love thee to the level of everyday's

Most quiet need, by sun and candlelight.

I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;

I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise;

I love thee with the passion put to use

In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith;

I love thee with a love I seemed to lose

With my lost saints,—I love thee with the breath,

Smiles, tears, of all my life!—and, if God choose,

I shall but love thee better after death.[4]

Probably one of her most famous works, this poem continues to be popular today in the world of poetry. Elizabeth Barrett Browning is a well known romantic poet. She wrote poetry from the age of eleven. Her first adult collection of poems was published in 1838 and she wrote bounteously between 1841 and 1844, producing poetry, translation and prose. Her numerous writings made her a rival to Tennyson as a candidate for poet laureate on the death of Wordsworth.Not only did Elizabeth enrich the literary world, she was also a great influence in humanitarian efforts to improve society. She campaigned for the abolition of slavery and her work helped influence reform in the child labour legislation.

Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806 – 1861), the British poet, accomplished what few women writers did in her time. Even as a woman (times have changed) Elizabeth gained the respect and admiration of the literary world, which was quite an accomplishment, considering the prevailing elitist attitude of the day. In fact, she was far better known than her husband, fellow poet Robert Browning, in their lifetime.

Mary Russell Mitford, another writer, gave Elizabeth the Cocker Spaniel she named Flush as solace after the death of her brother in 1840. From the start, Elizabeth adored Flush, so much so that she dedicated this poem to him. Here is Elizabeth's poem:

To Flush, My Dog

LOVING friend, the gift of one,

Who, her own true faith, hath run, Through thy lower nature; Be my benediction said

With my hand upon thy head,

Gentle fellow-creature!

Like a lady’s ringlets brown, Flow thy silken ears a-down Either side demurely, Of thy silver-suited breast Shining out from all the rest Of thy body purely.

Darkly brown thy body is, Till the sunshine, striking this, Alchemize its dulness, — When the sleek curls manifold Flash all over into gold, With a burnished fulness.

Underneath my stroking hand,

Startled eyes of hazel bland Kindling, growing larger, — Up thou leapest with a spring, Full of prank and curvetting, Leaping like a charger.

Leap! thy broad tail waves a light; Leap! thy slender feet are bright, Canopied in fringes. Leap — those tasselled ears of thine Flicker strangely, fair and fine, Down their golden inches.

Yet, my pretty sportive friend, Little is ‘t to such an end That I praise thy rareness! Other dogs may be thy peers Haply in these drooping ears, And this glossy fairness.

But of thee it shall be said, This dog watched beside a bed Day and night unweary, — Watched within a curtained room, Where no sunbeam brake the gloom Round the sick and dreary.

Roses, gathered for a vase, In that chamber died apace, Beam and breeze resigning — This dog only, waited on, Knowing that when light is gone, Love remains for shining.

Other dogs in thy my dew Tracked the hares and followed through Sunny moor or meadow — This dog only, crept and crept Next a languid cheek that slept, Sharing in the shadow.

Other dogs of loyal cheer Bounded at the whistle clear, Up the woodside hieing — This dog only, watched in reach Of a faintly uttered speech, Or a louder sighing.

And if one or two quick tears Dropped upon his glossy ears, Or a sigh came double, — Up he sprang in eager haste, Fawning, fondling, breathing fast, In a tender trouble.

And this dog was satisfied, If a pale thin hand would glide, Down his dewlaps sloping, — Which he pushed his nose within, After, — platforming his chin On the palm left open.

This dog, if a friendly voice Call him now to blyther choice Than such chamber-keeping, Come out! praying from the door, —

Presseth backward as before, Up against me leaping.

Therefore to this dog will I, Tenderly not scornfully, Render praise and favour! With my hand upon his head, Is my benediction said Therefore, and for ever.

And because he loves me so,

Better than his kind will do Often, man or woman, Give I back more love again

Than dogs often take of men, —

Leaning from my Human.

Blessings on thee, dog of mine, Pretty collars make thee fine, Sugared milk make fat thee!

Pleasures wag on in thy tail — Hands of gentle motion fail Nevermore, to pat thee!

Downy pillow take thy head, Silken coverlid be-stead, Sunshine help thy sleeping! No fly ‘s buzzing wake thee up — No man break thy purple cup, Set for drinking deep in.

Whiskered cats anointed flee — Sturdy stoppers keep from thee Cologne distillations; Nuts lie in thy path for stones, And thy feast-day macaroons Turn to daily rations!

Mock I thee, in wishing weal? — Tears are in my eyes to feel Thou art made so straightly, Blessing needs must straighten too, — Little canst thou joy or do, Thou who lovest greatly.

Yet be blessed to the height Of all good and all delight Pervious to thy nature, — Only loved beyond that line, With a love that answers thine, Loving fellow-creature!

What a tribute to her beloved Spaniel!!

Though Flush wasn’t in attendance at the Brownings’ secret wedding, he was part of their escape to Florence, Italy, where they settled in 1847. It was fortunate that he was safely at home during this celebration, considering that poor Flush had been dognapped three times.

"Elizabeth Barrett only looked away from the busy London street for a moment as she stepped up into a carriage. It was a perfect autumn morning on the first of September 1846 and Elizabeth, 40, was out running errands with her sister Arabel, 33. They had brought along Elizabeth’s small brown spaniel, Flush, who had trotted gamely beside them as they shopped. When the outing was over and the carriage pulled up on Vere Street, the ladies climbed aboard while Flush waited patiently beside the wheels.

Once she was seated, Elizabeth called, “Flush!” Flush did not spring into her lap as expected. Elizabeth and her sister frantically searched underneath the chassis and scanned the bustling streetscape for any sign of him. But he was gone. In only a moment, Elizabeth’s beloved dog had vanished without a trace."

Eventually he was returned... all 3 times. If you want to read this fascinating story in its entirety, click on this link:

https://medium.com/truly-adventurous/the-dognapping-of-the-century-8169f538f295

the Spaniel Superstar

Animals have been acting in stage productions on Broadway for decades, providing companionship to characters and making audiences smile. Rigorous training goes into preparing an animal for a role, teaching him or her multiple commands so that the same tasks may be performed consistently several times a week on cue. One early canine actor played Flush in The Barretts of Wimpole Street.

ONE-ACT PLAY

One of the greatest love stories of all time, seen through the eyes of a dog. Not any old dog: Flush was the subject of some delightful verses by Elizabeth Barrett, the invalid poet who amazed the world by eloping with Robert Browning. Virginia Woolf’s ‘biography’ of one of history’s greatest cocker spaniels is a comic masterpiece about much more than a dog.

"Yes; Flush was worthy of Miss Barrett; Miss Barrett was worthy of Flush."

-Flush

“He & I are inseparable companions,” wrote Elizabeth Barrett of her Cocker Spaniel - Flush, “and I have vowed him my perpetual society in exchange for his devotion.” Although Flush was a real dog, he’s best known to us through Virginia Woolf’s Flush: A Biography (1933), created, in part, as a playful mockery of popular Victorian life histories. In this charming story, told from the spaniel’s perspective, Woolf makes use whenever possible of Elizabeth Barrett and Robert Browning’s own words, drawn mainly from their letters. “A dog somehow represents — no I can’t think of the word — the private side of life — the play side,” she wrote to a friend, which perhaps explains why Flush remains one of her most popular books.

“But how different! Hers was the pale worn face of an invalid, cut off from air, light, freedom. His was the warm ruddy face of a young animal; instinct with health and energy. Broken asunder, yet made in the same mould, could it be that each completed what was dormant in the other? She might have been—all that; and he—But no. Between them lay the widest gulf that can separate one being from another. She spoke. He was dumb. She was woman; he was dog. Thus closely united, thus immensely divided, they gazed at each other. Then with one bound Flush sprang on to the sofa and laid himself where he was to lie for ever after—on the rug at Miss Barrett’s feet.” ― Virginia Woolf, Flush

The legacy of the lovers

In addition to being celebrated for their literary talents, Elizabeth and Robert are remembered as people who were deeply in love. As Sir Frederic Kenyon wrote, "Elizabeth and Robert 'gave the most beautiful example of [love] in their own lives.”'The marriage of Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Robert Browning required courage and sacrifice, and they were willing to do whatever it took to build a beautiful life together."

One last quote...

“Some historians say that when the Carthaginians landed in Spain the common soldiers shouted with one accord “Span! Span!”—for rabbits darted from every scrub, from every bush. The land was alive with rabbits. And Span in the Carthaginian tongue signifies Rabbit. Thus the land was called Hispania, or Rabbit-land, and the dogs, which were almost instantly perceived in full pursuit of the rabbits, were called Spaniels or rabbit dogs.” ― Virginia Woolf, Flush