Florence
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In October 1819, the Shelleys moved into
a Pensione in Palazzo Marini. Here, he
wrote "Ode to the West Wind" and finished
Prometheus Unbound. On November 12
Percy Florence Shelley was born. John
Webster has supplied a lovely photo of an
incoming fall storm in Florence—taken
from Fiesole—which may capture
something of the atmosphere of the
"Ode":
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| It was not a totally happy time: in April
1819, Shelley came upon a devastating
Quarterly Review article by John
Taylor Coleridge purporting to review The
Revolt of Islam, but actually mounting a
personal attack on its author—Coleridge
damned Shelley as a plagiarist heretic with
an unhealthy interest in incest. The winter
cold of Florence resulted in a persistent
rheumatic pain in his side which forced him
to cancel travel plans to Livorno. Yet the
birth of Percy Florence seems to have lifted
everyone's spirits: Mary began to recover
from the depression she had endured since the
death of William in Rome, Claire returned to
her singing lessons and a crowded social
calendar, and Shelley wandered happily
through the Uffizi gallery |
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| The Palazzo Marini faces what is now the
Santa Maria Novella railway station, midway
between Plaza Adua and Via Nazionale. |
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| It features an interior courtyard and
several charming fountains. |
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