DISCOVERY 



187 



desire to pass beyond the " sandhills of the sea " down 

 to where 



the multitudinous 

 Billows murmur at our feet, 

 Where^the earth and ocean meet. 

 And all things seem only one 

 In^the universal sun. 



I believe that Shelley, had he lived, would within 

 a year or so have embraced his new self, embraced 

 humanity, and matured into one of our greatest 

 writers of dramatic poetry, in which direction ample 

 proof of his ability lies in the Cenci. 



IV 



From these conjectures we must return to our nar- 

 rative. The summer of 1822 was one of the hottest 

 and driest that visited Italy in the nineteenth centurJ^ 

 Towards the end of June prayers were being offered 

 up in all churches for rain ; at Parma the labourers 

 could onlv work in the fields before ten o'clock and after 

 five ; early in July religious processions wended through 

 the countryside, interceding for rain. On June 19th 

 the Shelleys heard that Leigh Hunt and his family 

 had reached Genoa. He had come out from England 

 to co-operate with Byron and Shelley in producing a 

 new review. With the acrimonious discussion con- 

 cerning B}Ton's treatment of Hunt over this review 

 we have no space to deal. 



On July 1st Shelley and Williams sailed across the 

 Gulf of Spezia to mset Hunt at Leghorn and to settle 

 him and his family into the ground-floor of BjTon's 

 palazzo at Pisa. The journey was safely and quickl}' 

 accomplished, as was its object. But unfortunately 

 the Gambas and B}Ton had become involved in another 

 fracas at their new villa at Montenero * outside Leghorn. 

 For this the Gambas had been banished by the Govern- 

 ment from Tuscany, and B\Ton was considering whether 

 he would follow them into exile. Such a step would 

 entail leaving Leigh Hunt and his projects at Pisa, 

 and Shelley spent most of the subsequent week in 

 attempting to bridge the growing estrangement between 

 the poet and the literary critic. He was largely suc- 

 cessful in this, and secured for Hunt's first number the 

 cop\Tight of B\Ton's Vision of Judgment. Hunt and 

 Shelley parted happily on the night of the 7th, at Pisa, 

 the poet taking with him in his post-chaise to Leghorn 

 Hunt's copy of the last volume of Keats' poems, which 

 he was to keep ''till he gave it to me with his own 

 hands." ^ 



\ 



The weather on the morning of ]\x\y 8th was uncer- 

 tain. It looked as though a thunderstorm was blowing 

 up to put an end to the long period of drought. But 

 the storm passed away, and the intense sun shone once 



» Ref. V; and Ref. II. Pp. 565-566. 2 Ref. V. 



more out of an almost cloudless sky. Something of 

 prophetic irony lies in the fragment written by Shelley 

 a few months earlier : 



When soft winds and sunny skies 

 With the green earth harmonize. 

 And the young and dewy dawn. 

 Bold as an unhunted fawn. 

 Up the windless heaven is gone, — 

 Laugh — for ambushed in the day, — 

 Clouds and whirlwinds watch their prey. 



It should be noted here that on the day before Byron 

 had lent Shelley £50. This fact has just been brought 

 to light by the newly-published letters of BjTon.^ This 

 note of hand, as I conclude, was cashed at Messrs. 

 Webb & Barrv's, at Leghorn, on the forenoon of the 8th, 

 and is the transaction referred to by Trelawny * when he 

 sajrs that " I went with Shelley to his bankers, and then 

 to a store." Webb & Barry were BjTon's bankers, 

 and they probably acted for Shelley as well. The £50 

 " were on board in cash when the boat went down." 

 (Byron's letter already referred to.) 



About three o'clock the Ariel, with Williams, Shelley, 

 and their j'oung English sailor-lad, Charles Vivian, 

 on board, set sail for San Terenzo. Trelawny had 

 intended to accompany them into the offing on the 

 Bolivar, but was prevented from doing this by the 

 officer of the Health Office, as he had not got his port 

 clearance. Instead, he was left behind watching the 

 progress of the Ariel tlurough a ship's glass. His 

 Genoese mate remarked to him, " They should have 

 sailed this morning at 3 or 4 a.m. instead of 3 p.m. 

 They are standing too much inshore ; the current wiU 

 set them there." Trelawny replied, " They will soon 

 have the land-breeze." 



" ' Maybe,' continued the mate, ' she will soon have 

 too much breeze ; that gaff topsail is foolish in a boat 

 with no deck and no sailor on board.' Then, pointing 

 to the S.W., ' Look at those black lines and the dirty 

 rags hanging on them out of the sky — the}' are a warn- 

 ing ; look at the smoke on the water ; the devil is 

 brewing mischief.' " ^ 



Gradually the Ariel became enveloped in a sea-fog. 

 The air turned extremely sultry, and Trelawny retired 

 into the cabin and went to sleep. Meanwhile ' ' Captain 

 Roberts had also kept the boat in view. Standing 

 on the end of the mole, he saw her going at about the 

 rate of seven knots. Anxious to know how she would 

 weather the storm which was visibly coming from the 

 Gulf, he got leave to ascend the lighthouse tower, 

 whence he could still discern her about ten miles out 

 at sea, off ■\''ia Reggio, and he could perceive that they 

 were taking in the topsail ; then the haze of the storm 

 hid them, and he could see them no more." •= 



3 Ref. III. Pp. 228-229. 1 Ref. VIII. Pp.106. 



» Ref. VIII. Pp. 106-107. » Ref. IV. P. 668. 



