I have been expecting every day a writ to attend at your court at Guebhard’s, whence you know it is settled that I should conduct you hither to spend your last days in Italy. A thousand thanks for your maps; in return for which I send you the only copy of Adonais the printer has yet delivered. I wish I could say, as Glaucus could, in the exchange for the arms of Diomed,--ἑκατόμβιοι ἐννεαβοίων. * * * * * I will only remind you of Faust; my desire for the conclusion of which is only exceeded by my desire to welcome you. Do you observe any traces of him in the poem I send you? Poets--the best of them, are a very cameleonic race; they take the colour not only of what they feed on, but of the very leaves under which they pass. Mary is just on the verge of finishing her novel; but it cannot be in time for you to take to England.--Farewell. Most faithfully yours, P. B. S. TO MR. AND MRS. GISBORNE. _Bagni, July 19th_ [_1821_]. My dearest Friends, I am fully repaid for the painful emotions from which some verses of my poem sprung, by your sympathy and approbation--which is all the reward I expect--and as much as I desire. It is not for me to judge whether, in the high praise your feelings assign me, you are right or wrong. The poet and the man are two different natures; though they exist together, they may be unconscious of each other, and incapable of deciding on each other’s powers and efforts by any reflex act. The decision of the cause, whether or no _I_ am a poet, is removed from the present time to the hour when our posterity shall assemble; but the court is a very severe one, and I fear that the verdict will be, “Guilty--death!” I shall be with you on the first summons. I hope that the time you have reserved for us, “this bank and shoal of time,” is not so short as you once talked of. In haste, most affectionately yours, P. B. S. TO MRS. SHELLEY (BAGNI DI PISA). _Lione Bianco, Florence_, (_Tuesday, August 1st, 1821_.) My dearest Love, I shall not return this evening; nor, unless I have better success, to-morrow. I have seen many houses, but very few within the compass of our powers; and, even in those which seem to suit, nothing is more difficult than to bring the proprietors to terms. I congratulate myself on having taken the season in time, as there is great expectation of Florence being full next winter. I shall do my utmost to return to-morrow evening. You may expect me about ten or eleven o’clock, as I shall purposely be late, to spare myself the excessive heat.