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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