Gulf of Spezia
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| On 25 April 1822, Shelley was in Pisa when he received
two simultaneous pieces of news: Allegra, Claire's daughter
by Byron, had died of typhus at Bagnacavallo; and Edward
Williams had discovered a dilapidated but nonetheless habitable
house for rent near the fishing village of Lerici, on the
Gulf of Spezia. Worried about the effect of the child's
death on Claire, and eager to leave Pisa (he had been involved
in the attack on a Pisan dragoon resulting in Byron's banishment),
Shelley decided that a change of scene was just the thing.
Within a day and a half, he had seen to moving arrangements,
packed Mary, Claire (who had not yet been told about Allegra)
and his son Percy Florence into a coach, and was himself
aboard a luggage boat for Lerici. |
| Lerici
is an exquisite
coastal town,
dominated
by the massive
800-year-old
Lerici castle
of San Georgio,
which overlooks
the port. |
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| In
the town
itself, the
central feature
is the oratory
of Saint
Rocco's Church,
built in
1287, and
rebuilt in
1524 by plague-weary
citizens.
From Lerici,
one can see
the nearby
town of San
Terenzo and
the creamy
white arches
of Shelley's
last residence,
Casa Magni. |
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| Casa
Magni was
roughly two
miles up
the coast
toward San
Terenzo,
in an extremely
isolated
area.
In 1822,
there was
not even
a
road to
the
place—furniture
and luggage
had to
be
brought
in by boat.
Today,
the
residence
is crowded
into the
center
of
town, and
only a
virtual
view can
give a
sense
of its
isolation. |
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| The
Shelleys,
the Williamses,
their children,
and the servants
finalized
lease arrangements
and moved
in on 30
April 1822.
The ground
floor, invaded
by sand and
surf on a
fairly regular
basis, was
useful only
for storing
boat equipment.
The main
floor was
the only
habitable
section,
consisting
of a large
central room
which the
party used
for dining,
three small
bedrooms,
and a rear
area for
the servants
and children. |
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| The house overlooks the lovely gulf of Spezia, where Byron
and Shelley sailed their yachts Bolivar and Don
Juan. |
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| Shelley had sailed to Livorno to greet the Hunts, whose
arrival in Italy he had long anticipated. His ill-fated
trip was the Livorno-Lerici run. Shelley's boat was caught
in a terrible storm, and although passing sailors warned
him to lower his sails, he refused—indeed, the captain
stated that "one of the gentlemen (Williams it is believed)
was seen to make an effort to lower the sails—his companion
seized him by the arm as if in anger" (cited
in Holmes
729). The Don
Juan sank under full sail and Shelley, Williams,
and the boat-boy Charles Vivian were drowned. Ten days later,
the bodies washed up on the beach off Viareggio (roughly
halfway between Lerici and Livorno). |
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