That Byron had Francesca in his mind when he wrote the stanzas to the Po seems likely; and in the letter which he wrote to Mary from Venice, in the previous month, he compares their misfortunes with those of Paolo and Francesca in plain words.[57] 'Don Juan' was begun in the autumn of 1818. That poem, Byron tells us, was inspired almost entirely by his own personal experience. Perhaps he drew a portrait of Mary Chaworth when he described Julia: 'And she Was married, charming, chaste, and twenty-three.' When they parted in 1809, that was exactly Mary's age. 'Her eye was large and dark, suppressing half its fire until she spoke. Her glossy hair was clustered over a brow bright with intelligence. Her cheek was purple with the beam of youth, mounting at times to a transparent glow; and she had an uncommon grace of manner. She was tall of stature. Her husband was a good-looking man, neither much loved nor disliked. He was of a jealous nature, though he did not show it. They lived together, as most people do, suffering each other's foibles.' On a summer's eve in the month of June, Juan and Julia met: 'How beautiful she looked! her conscious heart Glowed in her cheek, and yet she felt no wrong.' For her husband she had honour, virtue, truth, and love. The sun had set, and the yellow moon arose high in the heavens: 'There is a dangerous silence in that hour, A stillness which leaves room for the full soul.' Several weeks had passed away: 'Julia, in fact, had tolerable grounds,-- Alfonso's loves with Inez were well known.' Then came the parting note: 'They tell me 'tis decided you depart: 'Tis wise--'tis well, but not the less a pain; I have no further claim on your young heart, Mine is the victim, and would be again: To love too much has been the only art I used.' Julia tells Juan that she loved him, and still loves him tenderly: 'I loved, I love you, for this love have lost State, station, Heaven, mankind's, my own esteem, And yet cannot regret what it hath cost, So dear is still the memory of that dream.' 'All is o'er For me on earth, except some years to hide My shame and sorrow deep in my heart's core.' The seal to this letter was a sunflower--_Elle vous suit partout_. It may be mentioned here that Byron had a seal bearing this motto. When Juan realized that the parting was final, he exclaims: 'No more--no more--oh! never more, my heart, Canst thou be my sole world, my universe! Once all in all, but now a thing apart, Thou canst not be my blessing or my curse: The illusion's gone for ever.' In the third canto we have a hint of Byron's feelings after his wife had left him: