"One has to be so terribly religious, to be an artist."

In an often quoted passage from a letter to Ernest Collins (Letters, 1913), D. H. Lawrence observed:

"There are so many little frets that prevent our coming at the real naked essence of our vision. It sounds boshy, doesn't it. I often think one ought to be able to pray before one works--and then leave it to the Lord. Isn't it hard, hard work to come to real grips with one's imagination--throw everything overboard. I always feel as if I stood naked for the fire of Almighty God to go through me--and it's rather an awful feeling. One has to be so terribly religious, to be an artist" [L i 519, quoted in Keith M. Sagar, D.H. Lawrence: Poet, p. 7].