[In a letter from Mrs. Shelley to Mrs. Leigh Hunt, dated the 27th of November, 1823, and printed in Mr. Garnett's Relics of Shelley, occurs the following passage:-"When he [Leigh Hunt] does send a packet over (let it be directed to his brother), will he also be so good as to send me a copy of my 'Choice,' beginning after the line 'Entrenched sad lines, or blotted with its might.' Perhaps, dear Marianne, you would have the kindness to copy them for me, and send them soon." Mr. Garnett explains in a foot-note that the reference is to "a poem by Mrs. Shelley." Whether any copy was made and sent, I know not; but the original manuscript has remained among the Shelley papers of Leigh Hunt till now; and by the kindness of Mr. S. R. Townshend Mayer, who has placed these invaluable papers at my disposal, I am enabled to give to the world this most interesting and remarkable composition. The manuscript consists of six foolscap leaves, very clearly written: it had evidently been submitted to Leigh Hunt for revision or suggestion; and it bears several markings by him, and words in his handwriting, which have some claim to be considered part and parcel of the text, inasmuch as Mrs. Shelley has evidently been over the manuscript after him,- -one word of his being struck out and another substituted in her writing.—H. B. F.] THE CHOICE. My Choice-My Choice, alas! was had and gone The sky a vault, and Italy a tomb. Yet as some days a pilgrim I remain, Linked to my orphan child2 by love's strong chain; And since I have a faith that I must earn, By suffering and by patience, a return 1 Shelley was drowned, it will be remembered, on the 8th of July, 1822. In the autumn of 1823, Mrs. Shelley arrived in London from Italy, where, 10 15 How meet with fewest tears the morning's ray, First let me call on thee! Lost as thou art, A tale of unrequited love doth tell. It was not anger, while thy earthly dress Caress or tear, that spoke the softened mind.— 4 Forgive me! let thy love descend in dew 1 No hyphen in the MS. There is no note of interrogation in the MS.; but the sense obviously needs one. There was originally a comma at thee. The note of exclamation was an afterthought. I presume it was meant to separate this sentence from the next, and have therefore printed lost with a capital. 4 I cannot regard this passage as indicating anything more than a natural feeling of remorse in the noble heart of a woman who has suddenly lost an idolized husband, and fancies all kinds of deficiencies in her conduct to him. In a strange guise thou dost descend, or how Could love soothe fell remorse, as it does now ?-1 By this remorse and love, and by the years Through which we shared our common hopes and fears, By all our best companionship, I dare Call on thy sacred. name without a fear; And thus I pray to thee, my friend, my Heart! 45 As link by link she weaves her heavy chain ! 50 And thou, strange star! ascendant at my birth, Has burst this hideous storm of misery! Here let me cling, here to these solitudes, A happy Mother first I saw this sun, Beneath this sky my race of joy was run. First my sweet girl, whose face resembled his, Slept on bleak Lido, near Venetian seas.* 1 Here also I have had to supply the note of interrogation. 2 This passage originally stood thus, If in thy new abode thou bearst a part, The alteration is in Mrs. Shelley's writing. 3 No hyphen in the MS. 4 Clara Shelley, who died in 1818. In the Shelley Memorials we read: "While they were at Este, their little Yet still my eldest-born, my loveliest, dearest, Clung to my side, most joyful then when nearest. Near those royal1 towers, where the grass-clad2 earth Rocked by the waves, o'er which our vessel swept, His eyes had watched Italian lightnings gleam ; Grim death approached-the boy met his caress, daughter, Clara, showed signs of suffering from the heat of the climate. Her indisposition being increased to an alarming extent by teething, the parents hastened to Venice for the best advice, but discovered at Fusina that, in their agitation, they had forgotten the passport. The soldiers on duty attempted to prevent their crossing the lagune; but Shelley, with his usual vehemence, augmented by the urgent nature of the case, broke through, and they reached Venice. Unhappily, it was too late; the little sufferer died just as they arrived."– Shelley Memorials, p. 95. 1 Originally ancient, but altered by Hunt to old, and finally by Mrs. Shelley to royal. 2 No hyphen in the MS. |