Read Online Hideous Love: The Story of the Girl Who Wrote Frankenstein by Stephanie Hemphill - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Stephanie Hemphill
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accomplishments,
very different from when
we worked together
on Frankenstein .
I copy Byron’s poems for him
and recopy the cantos of Don Juan
into a more readable form.
I amuse my toddler Percy
and prepare for the arrival
of the Hunts. I bake mince
pies for a Christmas
that I do not spend
with Shelley as all the men
celebrate it together at Byron’s.
I do all of these things alone,
like a duet of only one voice,
without the one I most love.
UNCORRECTED E-PROOF—NOT FOR SALE
HarperCollins Publishers
.....................................................................
DANCING AT A BALL
Winter 1822
My feet glide
across the floor
and I am swept up
in a moment of ardor
and light
like one sprinkled
with fairy dust.
I forget
worry and woe
and embrace
movement.
Twirls of happiness
kiss my forehead,
and I fly free.
My only wish
is that my Shelley
was here to partner me.
UNCORRECTED E-PROOF—NOT FOR SALE
HarperCollins Publishers
.....................................................................
JANE WILLIAMS
Winter 1822
Shelley’s new infatuation
appears to be Jane.
He admires her easy
way and her singing voice
and buys her a guitar.
I believe he may
write secret poems
to her as he did
with Claire in the past.
I know this is just
Shelley’s way of the sun
and expect that the infatuation
will pass, but sometimes it makes
me feel as though
I am a garment of clothing
with holes and stains
no longer wearable.
Shelley is not one to be material
in his possessiveness,
but pretty new things
often attract his attention.
I try to speak to Edward
about this but he seems
a little flattered
that Shelley takes
an eye to Jane.
I try to remember
that this too shall pass,
although has it ever really
passed with Claire?
At least I become pregnant
again, so old clothing
or not I am not completely
disposable.
UNCORRECTED E-PROOF—NOT FOR SALE
HarperCollins Publishers
.....................................................................
A CATASTROPHE
March 24, 1822
On the way home from shooting,
Shelley, Byron, Pietro, Trelawny,
Taafe, and Captain Hay
meet an Italian dragoon called Masi.
Teresa and I watch the action
from a nearby carriage.
Masi gallops toward Taafe
and knocks him from his horse.
Then my Shelley chases Masi,
and a confrontation arises
wherein Shelley’s face is cut
by Masi’s sword,
and Shelley and Captain Hay
are thrown from their horses
like there has been a joust.
Masi then disappears
back into the city
cowardly among the crowds.
Byron and his servants find him,
and Byron challenges Masi
to a duel, but as a throng gathers
one of Byron’s servants
stabs Masi in the stomach
with a pitchfork.
Masi is expected to die.
Much fuss occurs
over these events because
it will be murder if Masi dies.
Thankfully he lives.
I record everyone’s account
of the incident for the police
at Byron’s request.
We are now as notorious
in Pisa as we are in England.
They banish Byron’s servant
from the city.
We can go nowhere
without scandal it seems.
I tell Byron I prefer
when he sends me his
poems to copy out.
UNCORRECTED E-PROOF—NOT FOR SALE
HarperCollins Publishers
.....................................................................
MY FAIR HAND
Spring 1822
I transcribe the brilliant lines
of Byron and Shelley
in my fair hand.
I trace the family lines
of writers and philosophers
on my fair hand.
I nurture a small child
in body and spirit
with my fair hands.
But sometimes I wonder,
when the wind throws
whirlwinds round my feet,
if I have a fair hand?
UNCORRECTED E-PROOF—NOT FOR SALE
HarperCollins Publishers
.....................................................................
ALLEGRA
Spring 1822
Before Byron left Ravenna
the mother superior of the convent
invited him to visit his daughter Allegra.
Allegra wrote to ask her father to come and see her.
He neither answered his daughter’s letter,
nor dropped by the convent.
In February 1822,
Claire planned to take
a job as a governess in Vienna.
She begged Byron to
very different from when
we worked together
on Frankenstein .
I copy Byron’s poems for him
and recopy the cantos of Don Juan
into a more readable form.
I amuse my toddler Percy
and prepare for the arrival
of the Hunts. I bake mince
pies for a Christmas
that I do not spend
with Shelley as all the men
celebrate it together at Byron’s.
I do all of these things alone,
like a duet of only one voice,
without the one I most love.
UNCORRECTED E-PROOF—NOT FOR SALE
HarperCollins Publishers
.....................................................................
DANCING AT A BALL
Winter 1822
My feet glide
across the floor
and I am swept up
in a moment of ardor
and light
like one sprinkled
with fairy dust.
I forget
worry and woe
and embrace
movement.
Twirls of happiness
kiss my forehead,
and I fly free.
My only wish
is that my Shelley
was here to partner me.
UNCORRECTED E-PROOF—NOT FOR SALE
HarperCollins Publishers
.....................................................................
JANE WILLIAMS
Winter 1822
Shelley’s new infatuation
appears to be Jane.
He admires her easy
way and her singing voice
and buys her a guitar.
I believe he may
write secret poems
to her as he did
with Claire in the past.
I know this is just
Shelley’s way of the sun
and expect that the infatuation
will pass, but sometimes it makes
me feel as though
I am a garment of clothing
with holes and stains
no longer wearable.
Shelley is not one to be material
in his possessiveness,
but pretty new things
often attract his attention.
I try to speak to Edward
about this but he seems
a little flattered
that Shelley takes
an eye to Jane.
I try to remember
that this too shall pass,
although has it ever really
passed with Claire?
At least I become pregnant
again, so old clothing
or not I am not completely
disposable.
UNCORRECTED E-PROOF—NOT FOR SALE
HarperCollins Publishers
.....................................................................
A CATASTROPHE
March 24, 1822
On the way home from shooting,
Shelley, Byron, Pietro, Trelawny,
Taafe, and Captain Hay
meet an Italian dragoon called Masi.
Teresa and I watch the action
from a nearby carriage.
Masi gallops toward Taafe
and knocks him from his horse.
Then my Shelley chases Masi,
and a confrontation arises
wherein Shelley’s face is cut
by Masi’s sword,
and Shelley and Captain Hay
are thrown from their horses
like there has been a joust.
Masi then disappears
back into the city
cowardly among the crowds.
Byron and his servants find him,
and Byron challenges Masi
to a duel, but as a throng gathers
one of Byron’s servants
stabs Masi in the stomach
with a pitchfork.
Masi is expected to die.
Much fuss occurs
over these events because
it will be murder if Masi dies.
Thankfully he lives.
I record everyone’s account
of the incident for the police
at Byron’s request.
We are now as notorious
in Pisa as we are in England.
They banish Byron’s servant
from the city.
We can go nowhere
without scandal it seems.
I tell Byron I prefer
when he sends me his
poems to copy out.
UNCORRECTED E-PROOF—NOT FOR SALE
HarperCollins Publishers
.....................................................................
MY FAIR HAND
Spring 1822
I transcribe the brilliant lines
of Byron and Shelley
in my fair hand.
I trace the family lines
of writers and philosophers
on my fair hand.
I nurture a small child
in body and spirit
with my fair hands.
But sometimes I wonder,
when the wind throws
whirlwinds round my feet,
if I have a fair hand?
UNCORRECTED E-PROOF—NOT FOR SALE
HarperCollins Publishers
.....................................................................
ALLEGRA
Spring 1822
Before Byron left Ravenna
the mother superior of the convent
invited him to visit his daughter Allegra.
Allegra wrote to ask her father to come and see her.
He neither answered his daughter’s letter,
nor dropped by the convent.
In February 1822,
Claire planned to take
a job as a governess in Vienna.
She begged Byron to
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