Leonard Rossiter in a monologue adapted from the journals Of BENJAMIN ROBERT HAYDON by ERIC EWENS
Narrator WILFRID CARTER
Haydon, once hailed as a painter of genius, ended his life by his own hand on 22 June 1846, after years of bitterness and neglect. His journals are unparalleled in the whole of English literature for their agonised frankness.
'Merciful God, that thou should'st permit a being with thought and feeling to be so racked. The melancholy demon has grappled my heart and crushed its turbulent beatings in his clammy, clenching fingers.'
Special sound by the BBC Radiophonic Workshop Producer HALLAM TENNYSON