Calves
from Freshwater
by Virginia Woolf
Julia:
What is the use of a policeman if he has no calves? There you have the tragedy of my life. That is Julia Margaret Cameron's message to her age!
What is the use of a policeman if he has no calves? There you have the tragedy of my life. That is Julia Margaret Cameron's message to her age! All my sisters were beautiful, but I had genius. They were the brides of men, but I am the bride of ART! I have sought the beautiful in the most unlikely places. I have searched the police force at Freshwater, and not a man have I found with calves worthy of Sir Galahad.
But, as I said to the Chief Constable, "Without beauty, constable, what is order? Without life, what is law?" Why should I continue to have my silver protected by a race of men whose legs are aesthetically abhorrent to me?
If a burglar came and he was beautiful, I should say to him, "Take my fish knives! Take my cruets, my bread baskets and my soup tureens. What you take is nothing to what you give; your calves... your beautiful calves."
