New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1907-02-10

TRE E.ksT DAYS OF SHELLEY, AND, BYRON.
Win Introduction by Edward Dowden. 16mo.
~ xiv. &l. Henry Provide
T., ona Of Mary shelIey's letters. written az
,,..s in 1922, when Trelawny had just risen
.or her horizon. she describes him in these
- words: "A kind Of half-Arab Englishman.
tosa life has been as changefuI as that of An
..,.sius. and who recounts the adventures of
- Youth as eIoquentIy and Well the imagined
-oel He is clever: for his moral qualities
an, vet in the dark. He is a strange web which
nm endeavoriug to unravel. / would fain learn
- -auerosity is united to impetuousness, nobility
- shirt 10 his assumption of singularity and in
zsn5ence He is six feet high; raven black
mir which curls thickly and shortly like
,-,,r-s. dark-gTay. expressive eyes; oVerhanging
,--,rs- upturned lips. and q smile which cx-
misses good nature and kindheartedness His
ssouderz are high, like OrientaTs; his voice
g uono,onous. yet emphatic: and his language.
ss he relates the events Of his life energetic and
..nflc. whether the tale be one of blood and
horror OF If irresistible comedy. His company
is delightful. for he eXctes me TO think; and if
any evil shade the intercourse that time will
urrel-the sun viii rise or night darken ALL"
Is il any wonder that when this romantic figure
came to make the acquaintance OF Shelley and
F-roa in Italy he became one of their closest
friends His recollections OF their last days
were written with a sympathy testifying TO his
possession Of rare spirit. His book is q classic
in its way.
Trelawry must have had imagination, else he
could not have walked straight into the liking
Of Shelley and Byron but there was good deal
Of the fortnight clear-eyed Briton about him;
he had no taste for hghfalutin. and when he
sal down to put his impressions of the poets on
record he portrayed them as human figures. do
ing his best 10 tell the simple truth. Thus his
pages have extraordinary vitality taking US into
II. company Of his friends and making US feel
their presence as tangibly though we could
tou hands with them. We meet the true
shelley in this book, from the moment when. in
I'll TIE Palazzi At Pisa. Trelawny first sees
him. swiftly gliding in, blushing like girl,
tan thin stripping held out both his hands
] could hardly believe as I looked at his
Il a~hed, feminine and artless face. that it could
b. the Poet" In "Adonais' Shelley speaks of
himself as "a phantom amongst men, and one
the phrase the better after reading
Trelawny. one scene in the book is so illumi-
mating that we must quote it intact. It had been
arranged that Williams was to read a fve-act
play that he had written. and on the appointed
morning Trelawny sat down with his friends,
pr'pared TO play the part of critic. He con-
tinues:
While thus intent. Shelley stood before US with .
most Woful expression.
Mrs Williams started up. eXclaiming. What's
tn matter. PerCy2'
Mary has threatened me"
Threatened you with what"
II1 looked my seriOuS and too agitatcd to reply.
Mrs Williams repeated: with what? To box
your earS.'
"Oh' much worse than that: Mary says she will
have party. There are English singers here
tie Sine.airs-ard she VIII ask them, and every
Or she 1r you knOw-oh. the horror
We All burst into = laugh, except his friend Ned.
III viii XIII me
Music Kill you" said Mrs Williams WHY
you have told ne. you hatJerer, that you loved
music
50 ] ca. is The company terrifes For
pity, 70 Mary and interccde for l Will
submit 10 any other species of torture than that
OF being bored TO death by idle ladies and gentle
men
After various devices Il was resolved that Ned
Williams SHOULD wait upon the lady, he being Gifted
with q slEery tongue and Sympathizing with the
Poet in his dislike II fine ladies', and what he
could 60 - avert the threatened invasion OF the
Poets solitude Meanwhile, Shelley remained in a
state II restless ecstacy; he could not read