Homes and Haunts of the Most Eminent British Poets, Vol. 2 (of 2)Howitt, William
General
Homes and Haunts of the Most Eminent British Poets, Vol. 2 (of 2)
Howitt, William
Literary landmarks -- Great Britain; Poets, English -- Homes and haunts
The circumstances connected with this last home of the young poetess
are strange enough in themselves, independent of the closing tragedy.
That she who was educated in, and for, London; who could hardly bear
the country; who says, she worshiped the very pavement of London; who
was the idolized object of the ever moving and thronging social
circles of the metropolis, should go voluntarily out to the desert of
an African coast, to a climate generally fatal to Englishwomen, and to
the year-long solitude of that government fort, was a circumstance
which astonished every one. The picture of this home of exile, and of
herself and her duties in it, is drawn livingly by herself. Before
giving this, we may here simply state that Cape Coast Castle is one of
the eight British settlements on the Gold Coast. The castle stands on
a rock of gneiss and mixed slate, about twenty feet above the level of
the sea, in 5° 6' N. lat., and 1° 10' W. long. Outside there is a
native town; and the adjacent country, to a considerable distance, has
been cleared, and rendered fit for cultivation. The ruling natives are
the Fantees, a clever, stirring, turbulent race.
In one of her letters, she gives this account of the situation and
scenery of the castle:--"On three sides we are surrounded by the sea.
I like the perpetual dash on the rocks--one wave comes up after
another, and is forever dashed in pieces, like human hopes, that only
swell to be disappointed. We advance,--up springs the shining froth of
love or hope,--'a moment white, then gone forever!' The land view,
with its cocoa and palm-trees, is very striking--it is like a scene in
the Arabian Nights. Of a night, the beauty is very remarkable; the sea
is of a silvery purple, and the moon deserves all that has been said
in her favor. I have only been once out of the fort by daylight, and
then was delighted. The salt lakes were first dyed a deep crimson by
the setting sun, and as we returned they seemed a faint violet by the
twilight, just broken by a thousand stars; while before us was the red
beacon-light."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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