[This most exquisite fragment, Mrs. Shelley first began to give to the world in 1824, in the Posthumous Poems,-in which volume it appeared among the principal pieces. This seems to me better than placing it among miscellaneous fragments, where it is liable enough to be overlooked; and, as now finally built up by the researches of Mr. Garnett, it is a priceless gem among the latest works of the poet. I have not thought it necessary to indicate in detail which portions were given by Mrs. Shelley and which were reserved for Mr. Garnett to disentangle; but it should at all events be recorded that to that indefatigable and keen seeker we owe the wondrous passage descriptive of the Lady's dream, issued first in the Relics of Shelley under the title of The Magic Plant. Other portions Mr. Garnett reserved for issue in some new edition of Shelley's works; and the honour of first bringing them out fell to Mr. Rossetti. Mr. Garnett tells us that this fragment was written at Pisa "during the late winter or early spring of 1822"; and Mrs. Shelley says it was "undertaken for the amusement of the individuals who composed our intimate society, but left unfinished." I presume we may count Trelawny among the members of that society; and it is certainly to his adventures, with which Shelley was familiar, that we are indebted for some of the suggestions of the poem,-as few will doubt after reading the Adventures of a Younger Son. Mrs. Shelley thus briefly summarizes the scheme of the Unfinished Drama: "An Enchantress, living in one of the islands of the Indian Archipelago, saves the life of a Pirate, a man of savage but noble nature. She becomes enamoured of him; and he, inconstant to his mortal love, for a while returns her passion: but at length, recalling the memory of her whom he left, and who laments his loss, he escapes from the enchanted island, and returns to his lady. His mode of life makes him again go to sea, and the Enchantress seizes the opportunity to bring him, by a spirit-brewed tempest, back to her island." Nothing relating to the Enchantress appears to be preserved beyond the first twenty-seven lines. These are divided from the remainder, in Mrs. Shelley's editions, by a note to the effect that "a good Spirit, who watches over the Pirate's fate, leads, in a mysterious manner, the lady of his love to the Enchanted Isle. She is accompanied by a youth, who loves the lady, but whose passion she returns only with a sisterly affection. The ensuing scene takes place between them on their arrival at the Isle." Mr. Rossetti points out that the youth and lady cannot have come together to the island.-H. B. F.] FRAGMENTS OF AN UNFINISHED DRAMA. SCENE, BEFORE THE CAVERN OF THE INDIAN ENCHANTRESS. THE ENCHANTRESS COMES FORTH. ENCHANTRESS. HE came like a dream in the dawn of life, And for my sake Make answer the while my heart shall break! But my heart has a music which Echo's lips, On my desolate path Cast the darkness of absence, worse than death! The ENCHANTRESS makes her spell: she is answered by a Spirit. SPIRIT. Within the silent centre of the earth My mansion is; where I have lived insphered 15 From the beginning, and around my sleep Have woven all the wondrous imagery Of this dim spot, which mortals call the world; And as a veil in which I walk through Heaven I have wrought mountains, seas, and waves, and clouds And lastly light, whose interfusion dawns In the dark space of interstellar air. 20 26 [ANOTHER SCENE.] INDIAN YOUTH AND LADY. INDIAN. And, if my grief should still be dearer to me That which I seek, some human sympathy In this mysterious island. INDIAN. Oh! my friend,3 My sister, my beloved!-What do I say? 1 This and is not in Mrs. Shelley's collected editions. Mr. Rossetti inserts it and refers to it as an emendation peculiar to his edition; but it occurs in the Posthumous Poems, wherein this speech is separately printed as a "Song of a Spirit,"-the word have being omitted from the second line of it. 2 So in the editions of 1839; but pleasure in the Posthumous Poems. 3 In the Posthumous Poems this and the two following speeches were given as one; but in the editions of 1839 they were divided as in the text. My brain is dizzy, and I scarce know whether I am to thee only as thou to mine, The passing wind which heals the brow at noon, INDIAN. But you said 40 You also loved? LADY. Loved! Oh, I love. Methinks This word of love is fit for all the world, And that for gentle hearts another name Would speak of gentler thoughts than the world owns. I have loved. INDIAN. And thou lovest not? if so Young as thou art thou canst afford to weep. LADY. Oh! would that I could claim exemption 45 50 To ring the knell of youth. He stood beside me, The embodied vision of the brightest dream, The shadow of his presence made my world |