Vincent Van Gogh letters (p. 46-47)

Vincent Van Gogh's letters (p. 46-47)

A λυκείου - unit 4

The following letter is an extract from one of Van Gogh's letters to his brother Theo Van

Gogh.

Isleworth, 7 October 1876

It is Saturday again and I write once

more. How I long to see you again, Oh!

my longing is sometimes so strong. Write

soon, a little word as to how you are.

Multiple Choice

What's the definition of the word 'longing'?

• a feeling of wanting something or someone very much

• a feeling that time is getting longer

• the feeling you have after walking for a long distance

Last Wednesday we took a long walk to a village an hour's distance from here. The road led through meadows and fields, along hedges of hawthorn, full of black- berries and clematis, and here and there a large elm tree. It was so beautiful when the sun set behind the grey clouds, and the shadows were long. By chance we met the school of Mr. Stokes, where there are still several of the boys I knew.

Multiple Select

An image is a representation in words of a sensory experience or of a person, place, or object that can be known by one or more of the senses.

Find the two (2) images among these options.

• All that glistens is not gold.

• I will do everything I can to prove that I'm right.

• He wrote a letter to his friend.

• The train moved away so slowly butterflies blew in and out of the windows.

Open Ended

What are the two (2) images in this part of the letter?

The clouds retained their red hue long after the sun had set and the dusk had settled over the fields, and we saw in the distance the lamps lit in the village. While I was writing to you, I was called to Mr. Jones, who asked if I would walk to London to collect some money for him. And when I came home in the evening, there was a letter from Father with tidings about you. How I should like to be with you both, my boy. And thank God there is some improvement, though you are still weak. And you will be longing to see Mother, and now that I hear that you are going home with her

Multiple Choice

And thank God there is some improvement, though you are still weak.

What does Vincent mean by this statement?

• Theo is weak and in a bad health condition.

• Theo, his brother, has problems with his health but things are getting better.

Multiple Select

Check the statements that describe better Vincent's feelings for his family.

• he seems to be very close to his family

• he genuinely worries about Theos health

• he has a distant relationship with his family

• he is relieved to hear that Theo is feeling better

• he is relieved that he is living away from his brother and Mother

Open Ended

Find one (1) image in this part of the letter.

I have been ill, my mind was tired, my soul

disillusioned and my body suffering. I whom God has endowed at least with moral energy and a strong instinct of affection, I fell in the abyss of the most bitter discouragement and I felt with horror how a deadly poison penetrated my stifled heart. I spent three months on the moors, you know that beautiful region where the soul retires within itself and enjoys a delicious rest, where everything breathes calm and peace; where the soul in presence of God's immaculate creation throws off the yoke of conventions, forgets society, and loosens its bonds, with the strength of renewed youth; where each thought takes the form of prayer, where everything that is not in harmony with fresh and free nature quits the heart.

Multiple Choice

where the soul in presence of God's immaculate creation throws off the yoke of conventions

• flawless

• incredible

• invincible

Multiple Choice

I have been ill, my mind was tired, my soul disillusioned and my body suffering.

• disappointed

• complicated

• tired

Multiple Choice

I whom God has endowed at least with moral energy and a strong instinct of affection, I fell in the abyss of the most bitter discouragement and I felt with horror how a deadly poison penetrated my stifled heart.

• endure

• give abilities

• take away

Multiple Choice

I whom God has endowed at least with moral energy and a strong instinct of affection, I fell in the abyss of the most bitter discouragement and I felt with horror how a deadly poison penetrated my stifled heart.

• love, fondness

• pleasure

• attraction

Multiple Choice

I whom God has endowed at least with moral energy and a strong instinct of affection, I fell in the abyss of the most bitter discouragement and I felt with horror how a deadly poison penetrated my stifled heart.

• sad

• strong

• suppressed

Oh, there the tired souls find rest, there the exhausted man regains his youthful strength. So I passed my days of illness ... And then the evening! To be seated before the big fireplace with one's feet in the ashes, one's eyes fixed on a star that sends its ray through the opening in the chimney as if to call me, or absorbed in vague dreams too much to look at the fire, to see the flames rise, flicker, and supplant one another as if desirous to lick the kettle with their tongues of fire, and to think that such is human life: to be born, to work, to love, to grow and to disappear

Poll

to be born, to work, to love, to grow and to disappear

Vincent's statement about the human life reveals

• a pessimistic point of view

• an optimistic point of view

explanation

Here, Vincent expresses the fact that he is concious of his mental illness.

He need isolation and contact with God in order to stay emotionally balanced.

His need for isolation was strengthened by the fact that his talent remained unrecognised by his society, which made him feel rejectd and discouraged.