The Real Shelley. New Views of the Poet's Life. Vol. 1 (of 2)Jeaffreson, John Cordy
History
The Real Shelley. New Views of the Poet's Life. Vol. 1 (of 2)
Jeaffreson, John Cordy
Poets, English -- 19th century -- Biography; Shelley, Percy Bysshe, 1792-1822
Still every girl likes to be admired, and Miss Grove liked her cousin's
admiration none the less because his sister entreated her so prettily to
accept it responsively. There was no reason why she should disappoint the
brother and sister with a promptitude, that would put a premature period
to an agreeable holiday. The obvious wishes of the elders of both families
may also have disposed the young lady to temporize. That the elders of the
family party wished for the match when the Groves went from Field Place to
town, may be inferred from the arrangement for the speedy reunion of the
young people in Lincoln's Inn Fields. That Bysshe, Mrs. Shelley, and Miss
Shelley, followed the five Groves to London so quickly, and spent a month
with them under the same roof of Lincoln's Inn Fields, is a significant
fact.
In London, as the reader doubtless remembers, the poet had other business
to look after besides the pursuit of his cousin's affection. It was
needful for him to come to an arrangement with a London publisher
respecting those already mentioned fourteen hundred and eighty copies of
_Original Poetry_, by Victor and Cazire. Needful, also, was it that he
should find a publisher for _St. Irvyne, or The Rosicrucian_, which would
soon be ready for the press. The poet's first visit to Mr. John Joseph
Stockdale's place of business in Pall Mall was paid whilst he was staying
with his mother, and his sister, and Harriett the Enchantress, under his
cousin Grove's house, hard by Lincoln's Inn. Since he entered the
publisher's office with a countenance eloquent of anxiety, one can imagine
the relief it was to Cazire (the sharer of his literary toil and anxiety)
to learn from Victor, on his return from Pall Mall, that he thought he saw
a way out of the bother with that embarrassing Horsham printer, who wanted
his money so much sooner than was reasonable and convenient.
But though she cannot have rated him highly as a partner in the dance, and
does not seem at any moment to have thought seriously of taking him for a
partner through life, the cousins played together prettily for two summer
months. The moonlight walks at Strode and about St. Irving's Hills were
followed by no less agreeable visits to the sights of the town. And when
Miss Harriett returned to Wiltshire, and the youthful poet went back to
Field Place, there was a commencement or renewal (Mr. Charles Henry Grove
is uncertain which it was) of their correspondence through the post, that
came to an end in, or shortly before, the ensuing Christmas holidays. It
is not surprising that spectators of the game, who, of course, could see
but little of it, mistook for an engagement what to outsiders seemed so
likely to become an engagement, though it never was an affair (if I read
the facts aright) that could have ended in marriage.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account