SHELLEY'S IT ALlAN EXPERIENCE Shelley's Italian Experience ALAN M. WEINBERG Senior Lecturer, Department of English University of South Africa Palgrave Macmillan ISBN 978-1-349-21651-2 ISBN 978-1-349-21649-9 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-21649-9 © Alan M. Weinberg 1991 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1991 All rights reserved. For information write: Scholarly and Reference Division St. Martin's Press, Inc., 175 Fifth Avenue, NewYork,N.Y.10010 First published in the United States of America in 1991 ISBN 978-0-312-06584-3 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Weinberg, Alan M. (Alan Mendel) Shelley's Italian experience I Alan M. Weinberg. P· em. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-312-06584-3 1. Shelley, Percy Bysshe, 1972-1822-I<nowledge-Italy. 2. Shelley, Percy Bysshe, 1792-1822-Journeys---Italy. 3. Poets, English-19th century-Biography. 4. English poetry-Italian influences. 5. Italy in literature. I. Title. PR5442. I82W45 1991 821 '.7--dc20 91-12029 OP For my Parents Contents Preface ix Chronology xi Abbreviations, Foreign Texts and Translations xiv Introduction 1 1 The Exile in Search of Refuge: Lines written among the Euganean Hills 21 2 Dual Perspectives and a Venetian Setting: Julian and Maddalo 44 3 Shelley and Renaissance Italy: The Cenci 71 4 Italian Origins, Sources and Precedents: Prometheus Unbound 101 5 Emilia Viviani and Shelley's 'Vita Nuova': Epipsychidion 135 6 Rome, Dante and the Soul's Ascent: Adonais 173 7 Lerici and the Italian Visionary Epic: The Triumph of Life 202 Conclusion 243 Notes 248 Select Bibliography 248 General Index 336 Poem Index 354 vii Preface Shelley's Italian experience has proved to be a topic far richer and more suggestive than I could originally have foreseen. As a result the present study is the product of some few years of research. It has not been my intention simply to add another 'interpretation' to the store of criticism of Shelley's poetry; rather, I have sought to investigate a neglected, though significant area of Shelley studies. In preparation for this book, I have had to learn to read Shelley according to the assumptions underlying his own theory and practice, assumptions which I take to be not only valid, but deeply rooted in the literature of the past. I have had also to acquire a more thorough knowledge of Italian poetry, particularly that of Dante and Petrarch, and to let that knowledge be directed by Shelley's own interests. In laying emphasis on research, I have tried to do justice to Shelley's subtle genius, and to contribute, as far as I am able, to the recent body of work that has revealed his impressive erudition and capacity for experience. It is my hope that the present study will draw critical attention to the importance of Italy in Shelley's poetry and thought. In July 1970, in a lecture given at Keats House, William McTaggart remarked that [t]he word 'scholarship', as currently used, does not necessarily imply, as it once did, the sifting of evidence, followed by logically reasoned exposition. Truth and untruth alike are seen merely as 'controversial opinions', and the value of an opinion is too often measured by the number of persons who hold it. This being so, the aspiring scholar is often less concerned in discovering truth than in following trends. (1970: 41) McTaggart was taking scholars to task for their tendency to deny or ignore the Platonic element in Shelley's poetry, against all available evidence. If today there is a tendency to overlook the Italian element in Shelley's poetry, it will be for the same reasons that the Platonic is neglected: a reluctance to explore beyond a narrow specialised field, to explore, in fact, with something of the passion Shelley himself felt at a time when knowledge had the freshness of a new discovery. ix X Preface My aim, simply stated, has been to provide more evidence for the existence and significance of the 'Italian experience' in Shelley's poetry. I trust my findings will stimulate others to follow in the same path and to add new and further dimensions to my argument. I am grateful to all those whose writings on Shelley have made my task lighter and more rewarding. I also realise that it is not possible to conduct research without the personal aid of others. I wish, therefore, to acknowledge my thanks to a number of individuals and institutions: my colleague Prof. Ernest Pereira for his scholarly example and advice; Prof. Anthony Woodward, for helping me at an early stage to give greater definition to my field of enquiry; Dr Timothy Webb for personally supporting my choice of topic; the late Geoffrey Matthews for his generous thoughts on Shelley editions and the 'Italian experience'; Prof. Stuart Sperry and Dr Donald Reiman for reading through the typescript and for their words of encouragment; Mrs Potgieter and the staff of the Unisa library for providing an invaluable service; Miss Celia Walter of the Special Collection at the University of Cape Town, Sir Joseph Cheyne of the Keats-Shelley Memorial House (Rome), Dr Barker-Benfield of the Bodleian Library (Oxford), Mrs Christina Gee of Keats House (Hampstead), Miss Margaret Brown of the Shelley Museum (Boumemouth), and the British Institute in Florence, for offering me research facilities; Marchese Burlamacchi for a conducted tour of Bagni di Lucca and Shelley's house at Casa Bertini; and Prof. Aurelio Zanco, for our conversation at his home in Viareggio. In addition I am grateful to the Italian Government for a bursary which enabled me to begin my studies in Italy; to the University of South Africa for generous grants which allowed me to further my research in Italy and the United States, and for permission to publish my doctoral thesis, submitted at the University for the D.Litt. et Phil. degree in English; and to Ken Saycell and Prof. Anthony Johnson, for permission to republish earlier and shorter versions of Chapters 5 and 6 which appeared in Unisa Medieval Studies, vol. 3 (University of South Africa, Pretoria 1987, pp. 85-103) and Paradise of Exiles: Shelley and Byron in Pisa (ETS Editrice, Pisa 1988, pp. 53-67). Finally my special thanks to Romaine Hill whose shared interest in Shelley and untiring help are deeply appreciated; and to my wife, Maria Grazia, whose good faith, practicality and intelligence have sustained the writing of this book. Chronology (1818-22) 1818 The Shelleys cross Mt Cenis on 30 March, and stop the next day at Turin [2-4 April: Turin to Milan] 4 April MILAN [1-9 May: Milan to Leghorn] 9 May LEGHORN 11 June BAGNI DI LUCCA Completes Rosalind and Helen; Athanase (unfinished, probable date); translates Plato's Symposium; On the Manners of the Ancient Greeks; 'On Love' [17-22 August: Bagni di Lucca to Venice] 22 August VENlCE/ESTE Prometheus Unbound I; Lines written among the Euganean Hills; begins Julian and Maddalo [5-20 November: Este to Rome] 20 Nov. ROME The Coliseum (unfinished) [27-30? November: Rome to Naples] 30? Nov. NAPLES Stanzas written in Dejection; Marenghi (unfinished) 1819 [28 February-5 March: Naples to Rome] 5 March ROME Prometheus Unbound II and III; begins The Cenci [10-17 June: Rome to Leghorn] 17 June LEGHORN Completes Julian and Maddalo and The Cenci; The Mask of Anarchy; translates Euripides's xi xii Chronology (1818-22) The Cyclops (probable date) 2 October FLORENCE Peter Bell the Third; Ode to the West Wind; On the Medusa of Leonardo da Vinci; Prometheus Unbound IV; begins Charles I; A Philosopical View of Reform (unfinished); 'Defence of Richard Carlisle': Letter to The Examiner; 'On Life'; Notes on Sculptures in the Uffizi Gallery 1820 26 January PISA The Sensitive Plant; The Cloud and Ode to Liberty (probable date) 15 June LEGHORN Letter to Maria Gisborne; To a Sky-Lark; translates Homer's Hymn to Mercury 5 August BAGNI DI PISA The Witch of Atlas; Ode to Naples; Oedipus Tyrannus; On the Devil and Devils; 'Una Favola'; trans­ lates 1st 'canzone' of Dante's Convivio and part of canto XXVIII of Dante's Purgatorio (probable date) 29 October PISA 1821 Epipsychidion; A Defence of Poetry; begins Adonais and Ginevra (probable date) 8 May BAGNI DI PISA Completes Adonais [3-6 August: Bagni di Pisa to Ravenna] 6 August RAVENNA [16/17-20? August: Ravenna to Bagni di Pisa] 20? Aug. BAGNI DI PISA Hellas 25 October PISA Chronology (1818-22) xiii 1822 Continues Ginevra and Charles I, begins The Zucca (unfinished); To Jane. The Invitation; To Jane. The Recollection; The Serpent is Shut Out from Paradise; With a Guitar. To Jane; translates Calderon's El Mtigico Prodigioso and scenes from Goethe's Faust 28 April LERICI Lines written in the Bay of Lerici; The Triumph of Life (unfinished) [1-8 July: Leghorn] Shelley drowns off the coast of Viareggio, 8 July 1822 Abbreviations, Foreign Texts and Translations The following is a list of abbreviated titles: CW: The Complete Works of Percy Bysshe Shelley, edited by R. lngpen and W. E. Peck (10 vols, London, 1965; reprint of 1926-30 edn). L: The Letters of Percy Bysshe Shelley, edited by F. L. Jones (2 vols., Oxford, 1964). LS: The Lyrics of Shelley, J. Chemaik (Cleveland, 1972). M: Thomas Medwin, The Life of Percy Bysshe Shelley (1847), edited by H. B. Forman (Michigan 1971; reprint of 1913 rev. edn). J: The Journals of Mary Shelley~ edited by P. R. Feldman and D. Scott-Kilvert (2 vols, Oxford, 1987). MSL: The Letters of Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, edited by B.