Was this really necessary?!
Shaw mentioned that Collison adores, "Pigeons &Persian cats& guinea pigs & rabbits [...] toads & newts." Obviously a man who sees fit to surround himself with such revelries, finds them to be appropriate gifts. I'm sure that Collison was unaware of Shaw's previous experience with a canary. "I once had a canary, a little green brute that flew in through the open window one day & would not go away. I hated it and it hated me. (2152)" Without prior knowledge of Shaw's affliction to canaries, I feel that Collison did not do anything intentionally to agitate Shaw. Collision was showing Shaw his gratitude for his loan and Shaw pretty much stomped all over it.
I did find it amusing that he tried to drop hints as to more appropriate gifts. "Now if you had sent me a sea-gull or a nightjar (the nightjar is my favorite bird) I could have let it loose & watched it flying & stalked it with a camera" (2152).
Deborah,
ReplyDeleteOK commentary but a very odd choice on which to write. Are you sure this letter is worth a post? You do provide some interesting comments on and quotations from it, but I am not sure it is worth the effort, especially if it keeps you from writing about something else (such as Shaw's Pygmalion.