Pisa
|
| As
Richard Holmes
points out
in Shelley:
The Pursuit,
Pisa
"became
the nearest
thing Shelley
ever had
to a home
anywhere since
leaving Field
Place" (575).
Pisa has
since treated
Shelley
like an adopted
son, albeit
a misplaced
one: although
the Via
Shelley
(and Via
Byron) can
be found
here, neither
poet ever
lived anywhere
near them.
Shelley
and Byron
preferred
the slightly
decaying
elegance
of the Lung’Arno,
a collection
of palaces,
plazas,
upscale
hotels,
and
mansions
that front
both sides
of the
Arno
River. |
|
|
| The
Albergo delle
Tre Donzelle
still stands
on the Plaza
Garibaldi,
where the
Ponte del
Mezzo crosses
the Arno.
Shelley,
Mary, and
Claire stayed
here in May
1818, when
they enjoyed
Pisan sights
such as the
Leaning Tower
and Baptistry
(but found
the conditions
of Italian
convict street-workers
appalling);
and for an
overnight
stay on their
journey from
Livorno to
Florence in
October 1919. |
|
|
| In
January 1820, Shelley
returned to
Pisa, hoping
to establish or find there: "a
society of
our own class,
as much as
possible,
in intellect
or in feeling." Pisa
was the logical
spot, for,
as he pointed
out to Mary, "Our
roots were
never struck
so deeply
as at Pisa
and the transplanted
tree flourishes
not" (cited
in Holmes
672). The
society would
be formed
primarily
of writers,
with Shelley,
Byron, and
Leigh Hunt
as the guiding
figures.
During the
last part
of October
1821, the
Shelleys
moved into
the top floor
of the Tre
Palazzi
di Chiesa,
overlooking
the Ponte
Fortezza,
on the Lung'Arno
Galileo
Galilei (Mary
filled the
place with
potted plants).
Later, Edward
and Jane
Williams
moved into
the ground
floor.
|
|
|
| From
their windows
they could
see Byron’s
Palazza
Lanfranchi,
on the opposite
side of
the Lung'Arno
(Lung'Arno
Mediceo).
In August
1821, Shelley
had negotiated
the lease
on the marble
palace as
part of
his campaign
to tempt
Byron to
Pisa. Byron
moved in
in November,
and immediately
implemented
a manly
regimen of
riding,
shooting,
gambling,
and billiards. |
|
|
| Byron and Shelley would meet at the front gate before
leaving for their daily target-shooting practice: the discharge
of firearms was prohibited within the Pisan city limits,
so they were forced to ride outside the city walls. They
were often joined by friends, among them Tom Medwin and
Edward Williams. |
|
|
| We
were unable
to trace
find Casa
Galetti,
the winter
apartment
on the north
side of the
river
that the
Shelleys
occupied
during the
winter of
1820; or
Casa Aulla,
also on the
Lung'Arno,
where they
moved in
March 1821;
or Mrs. Mason's
Casa
Silva. |
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