[Vwoolf] What on earth was it *about*?

Stuart N. Clarke stuart.n.clarke at btinternet.com
Mon Jun 19 07:16:09 EDT 2017


So asks Florinda about “Adonais”.

When I was growing up, our household did not approve of owning books (nor excessive reading), so there were very few in our house: perhaps 25, which may sound quite a lot, but I wasn’t aware that my father had the 3-vol. edn of “The Modern Practical Plumber” (n.d. [1926]) packed away in the garage.

My mother did have a small, soft, furry-covered selection of Shelley’s poems, obviously a gift book.  Indeed it was, as it was given to her by her best friend.  It was a great disappointment, as my mother specifically wanted the poems of Ella Wheeler Wilcox (see VW Essays 3, p.97).  As a child, I used to open it – perhaps it started with “To a Skylark” or “Ode to the West Wind” – and I couldn’t get further than a few lines before giving up in incomprehension.

Fancy giving someone like Florinda, “Adonais”.  What a dick!

Stuart
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