Phantasmagoria 4 & 5

(C) 01-22-06 Jeffrey Snodgrass

Phantasmagoria: Installment 4

Peacock:--
Were I less dejected I might write more, but, as things stand, I shall be pithy. Financial woes continue to burden me. Were it not for Harriet and her sweet goodness I feel as if I should succumb to the weight that burdens me exponentially with the passing of every day. Reconciliation with my father will never be, can never be. We are like two strangers attempting to communicate across a gaping chasm, echo distorting our words, our voices inadequate to the charge. Fate is a cruel mistress and even sterner taskmaster. We have had Miss Hitchener here for her holiday and spend many a pleasant evening conversing before the grate. Harriet has been very good about accomodating our fine guest. Rarely have I found a mind as keen as the Brown Lady's. You know she goes about with Aeschylus in hand, discoursing on antiquities? She is a veritable professor only wanting in one thing to hold a chair. I can never imagine more favorable circumstances for communication than these. You ask about the pointing finger in Mab's notes. Did you know the press reported that Hunt contributed those marked items? I've also heard it told that Byron did the same. That his Lordship does not know me does not seem to have occurred to anybody. I must remain silent on the meaning of those cryptic marks. It is indeed a strange alchemy which brought forth that child, a sheer humunculous of will. I will add, however, that fear of libel had much to do with the setting of the type, with which I had some hand. We were very pleased with your last and dinner remains a pleasant memory, though the inn was course and crowded. Let us plan on meeting again the next time you are in town. London is a fine city for losing oneself, whatever be the reasons. I remain your faithful servant--Bysshe

Father (By way of Mr. William Whitton, Great James Street, Bedford Row):
I have suffered for an art you neither can nor care to understand. I have stood alone when the company of fellow men would have alleviated my great solitude, but solicit their company I did not. I have never alloyed my handiwork with common strife but have sought always to join art and life in one meaningful struggle. This, none of this, expect I for you to understand. You are by nature intemperate in your perceptions and take all things as a sign of your sanctimonious censorship. You claim that I have chosen a Medieval career. How am I to counter that which is in essence fundamentally contrary to the very beatings of my heart? How am I to make sense of a topsy-turvey world when you withhold from me every means within your power to obviate my physical suffering? Were I alone I would lay no claim to either your good, common sense nor your resources but, through divine accident and choice I have dependents. You may deny me the means to live but in humble supplication I ask that you consider the needs of my coterie. I call upon your good sense and ask that you consider my request. As indicated, I am forwarding this through your solicitors. I know you loathe me and would not welcome direct word from me. Let the censor have his way with my sentiments: Eventually all that we do is made known and public. I remain your faithful servant--Percy

Phantasmagoria: Installment 5

Peacock
I see a direct connection between your nympholepsy and Plato's statement about art as arising from a mental frenzy. Do write and tell of how the pagan poem progresses.

Peacock,
I have only just learned that Harriet has destroyed herself. She was pulled from the Serpentine on December 10. Apparently she had been residing at 7 Elizabeth Street, a haunt of mine. I wholly blame Eliza for this catastrophe. Never was there a more cruel nor jealous creature. Harriet was kind, loving, and judicious in executing herself towards others. She was a model of hope and charity to all who knew her; in short, she was too kind for this world. Now she has shaken off the chains of existence that encumbered her and I am confident she exists on a much better plane. As you might imagine, we are all very distraught. Life can by turns both unforseen and fickle reduce us to inanimate clay. Now I am resolved to secure parentage of the children. William shall have a sweet brother and sister, playmates who shall animate his spirit and sharpen his sensitivities. I've no doubt Mary will execute her duties as a mother to the fullest. I remain firmly convinced that Ianthe and Charles are in great danger while they remain associated with the Westbrooks. They stand to inherit every vice and evil of prejudice which one may communicate to another, and are children not the more vulnerable to such pernicious and insidious influences than are sensible adults? I would mourn for them as well were I not confident that Eliza should hand them over to our custody. There has been some talk of legal action but I do not take it seriously. I hope to communicate brighter news by the next post. I remain your faithful servant, Bysshe

Dear G,
Thank you for conveying your sympathies regarding Harriet. I assure you, we were all shocked and dismayed by what happened. I can convey the details particular to this case when we dine this Sunday. Even Mary is distraught--such a generous, loving person. Until we meet, I remain--PBS

Mary's Diary:
We went to Trudeau's to see the magic lantern show and Bysshe was enraptured by the spectral images dancing along the walls and across a heavy drapery. Via phantasmagoria, the macabre came to life, accompanied by the monotonous droning of the hurdy-gurdy. Jane was fair beside herself. We certainly needed the diversion when one considers the strain we have all felt of late. If waltzing skeletons please us, so be it.