Home Page1

Reference URL

Add tags

Comment

Rate

To link to the entire object, paste this link in email, IM or document

To embed the entire object, paste this HTML in website

To link to this page, paste this link in email, IM or document

To embed this page, paste this HTML in website

Leigh Hunt letter to Elizabeth Kent, June 15, 1822

Page1

1 of 4

View Description

View Image & Text

Download

small (250x250 max)

medium (500x500 max)

large ( > 500x500)

Full Resolution

This page

All

Subset

Image
Text

Text Search...

Loading content ...

you wish to report:

Your comment:

Your Name:

Submit

Cancel

...

Rating
Title	Leigh Hunt letter to Elizabeth Kent, June 15, 1822
Creator	Hunt, Leigh, 1784-1859
Date Original	1822-06-15
Description	Concerning their calm voyage to Italy, except for the channel crossing; his notes for her Flora domestica on leaf 2.
Personal Name Subject	Hunt, Leigh, 1784-1859 Kent, Elizabeth, 1790-1861
Geographic Subject	Italy -- Genoa
Chronological Subject	1820-1830
Type (DCMIType)	Text
Type (AAT)	Correspondence
Type (IMT)	jpeg
Digital Collection	Leigh Hunt Letters
Contributing Institution	University of Iowa. Libraries. Special Collections Dept.
Archival Collection	Brewer-Leigh Hunt Collection
Collection Guide	http://www.lib.uiowa.edu/spec-coll/resources/Brewer-LeighHunt.html
Location	MsL H94ke
Rights Management	Educational use only, no other permissions given. This letter is owned by The University of Iowa Libraries Special Collections Department, and is provided here for educational purposes. It may not be reproduced or distributed in any format without written permission of the Special Collections Department.
Contact Information	Contact the University of Iowa Libraries Special Collections Department: lib-spec@uiowa.edu
Height (cm)	23.1
Width (cm)	19.2
Number of Pages	4
Number of Sheets of Paper	1
Digitization Specifications	Scanned with Ricoh Aficio 2335 scanner at 600 ppi, 24-bit color. Archival tiff image available.
Date Digital	2008-04-01
Transcript	Genoa, 15th. June, 1822 . Dearest Bebs, Your first sensation will be delight at receiving a letter from us; your second, surprise at it's being dated from here. It was not till we were out at sea, that I learnt the ship was bound for Genoa first. She goes to Leghorn in the course of a few days, perhaps not till a week, but the sailing here is like fancy-sailing, in a sea made for the purpose; so that you may reckon on our being arrived finally. However I need not tell you that I shall write again, the m[oment] we arrive again. We had a passage as smooth and fine as our channel voyage [was] deadly, somewhat too fine indeed latterly, for we might have been here tw[o] weeks ago, if it had not fell calm in the Mediterranean. But you will see all these things, and a thousand others, in my journal. We ran down the coast of Portugal with a fine wind, & have not had a single bad day, or hour, since we left. The Jane & Placidia, I find, must have had some more contrary winds by the time they /arrive/ took to arrive.-- The boatman tells me in good Italian, (which I answer) that I must finish, as the post closes soon. God bless you many, & all times, Bessy mine. How delighted am I to be able to delight you with this good news.-- Your sister's love & she begs you will remember her properly to her mother. Tell Novello, I cannot write to him by this post, but will by next. Mille Baci, & as many hopes to see you in Italy. Only think of Italy!-- Ever your most affectionate of dear friends, Leigh Hunt. [Continued, Top of Page 1] The two other pages will disappoint you at present. I wrote them at sea, to have them ready for you. The children are all well, myself promising, & your sister in better spirits, though she has unfortunately not lost her spitting of blood. But we hope much from rest. Angleterre To Miss Kent Mr. Hunter's, 72 St. Paul's Church Yard, London , England Londra Ingliterra. Juniper.[1]-- Before the use of carpets in Europe, the richest people used to strew their apartments with dried leaves & rushes. Queen Elizabeth walked on no better floor. The gentlemen & ladies in Boccaccio /walk/ are luxurious enough to walk on flowers of juniper. "This jocund company" says an old translation, "having received license from their queen to disport themselves, the gentlemen walked with the ladies into a goodly garden, making chaplets & nosegays of divers flowers, & singing silently /singing/ to themselves." (How beautiful & natural is this!) "When they had spent the time limited by the queen, they returned into the house, where they found that Parmeno had effectually executed his office; for when they entered into the hall, they saw tables covered with delicate white napery, & the glasses looking like silver, they were so transparently clear, all the room beside strewed with flowers of juniper.”-- As the passage has to do with gardens & flowers, & is a very elegant one besides, the reader will not object to /---/ a quotation of the whole of it.-- "When the queen & all the rest had washed,--according as Parmeno gave order, so every one was seated at the table: the viands, delicately drest, were served in, and excellent wines plentifully delivered; none attending but the three servants, & little or no loud /talk passing/ table-talk passing among them.-- Dinner being ended & the table withdrawn, all the ladies, & the gentlemen likewise, being skilful both in singing, & dancing, & playing on instruments artificially, the queen commanded that divers instruments should be brought; & as she gave charge, Dioneus took a lute, & Fiametta a viol de gamba, & began to play an excellent dance; /whereupon/ whereupon, the queen with the rest of the ladies & the other two young gentlemen (having sent their attending servants to dinner) paced forth a dance very majestically; and when the dance was ended, sung sundry excellent canzonets, outwearing so the time, until the queen commanded them all to rest, because the hour did necessarily require it. The gentlemen having their chambers severed from the ladies, curiously strewed with flowers, & their beds adorned in exquisite manner, as those of the ladies were not a jot /inferour/ inferiour to them, the silence of the night bestowed sweet rest on them all. In the morning the queen & all the rest being risen, accounting over-much sleep to be very hurtful, they walked abroad into a goodly meadow, where the grass grew verdantly, & the beams of the sun heated not over-violently, because the shades of fair-spreading trees gave a temperate calmness, cool & gentle winds fanning their sweet breath pleasingly among them." The company then sit down, & celebrated novels commence. (Add to the notice of Ariosto's sonnet on the juniper, which I cannot translate at present to my mind, the following:--)Tasso, in his miscellaneous poems, has /has/ two sonnets, to a similar purpose. [2] Heath.[3] (To add to the notice of heath beds.) "While the unpleasant ideas arising from this suggestion counteracted the good effects of appetite, welcome, & good cheer, I remarked that Rob Roy's attention had extended itself to providing us better bedding than we had enjoyed the night before. Two of the least fragile of the bedsteads, which stood by the wall of the hut, had been stuffed with heath, then in full flower, so artificially arranged that the flowers being uppermost afforded a mattress at once elastic and fragrant. Cloaks, & such bedding as could be collected, stretched over this vegetable couch, made it both soft & warm." Rob Roy. Chapter 20.[4] Flower-- Gentle[5] (Amaranth, is it not?) From a passage in Don Quixote, one may /gather/ surmise, that amaranths were sometimes worn by the Spanish ladies in the time of Cervantes: but the chief value of such passages consists in shewing us the probable taste of the author. It is where he speaks of a set of ladies & gentlemen who were amusing themselves by playing shepherds & shepherdesses in the woods, & who had hung some green nets across the trees. "And as he (Don Quixote) was going to pass forward & break through all" (he took it for the work of enchanters)--"unexpectedly, from among some trees, two most beautiful shepherdesses presented themselves before him; at least they were clad like shepherdesses, excepting that their waistcoats & petticoats were of fine brocade. Their habits were of rich gold tabby; their hair, which for brightness might come in competition with the rays of the sun, hanging loose about their shoulders; & their heads crowned with garlands of green laurel & red flower-gentles interwoven." Savois's Translation, Chap. 58. The delicate & sunny-coloured bay-leaves of the south, & the red or purple amaranth inter woven, would make a beautiful mixture; especially as the amaranth is deficient in leaves.[6] Roses.[7] Roses, /are/ when they are associated with a moral meaning, are generally identified with mere pleasure; /---/ but some writers, /perhaps/ with a /fine/ juster sentiment, have made them emblems of the most refined virtue. In the Orlando Innamorato, the famous Orlando puts roses in his helmet, /to guard his ears against syren temptations/ which guard his ears against a syren; /---/ and in Lucian, a man who has been transformed into an ass, recovers his shape upon eating some roses. /Lu/ Orlan. Innam., Canto 33. St. 33.--and Franklin's Lucian, Vol. 3. p. 236.[8] Daisies.[9] (See Burns's Poems, for a beautiful one on the daisy, beginning, I think, "Wee, modest crimson-tipped flower"[10] which it is criminal to forget when the daisy's mentioned. Have you got the following from W. Browne? The daisy scatter'd on each mead & down, A golden tuft within a silver crown; Fair fall that dainty flower; & may there be No shepherd grac'd that doth not honour thee! [11] Love of Gardens.--[12] Lope de Vega appears to have been a lover of gardens. "As he is mentioned more than once" says Lord Holland, by himself & his encomiasts, employed in trimming a garden, we may collect that he was fond of that occupation; indeed his frequent description of parterres & fountains, & his continual allusion to flowers, seem to justify his assertion--that his /gaden/ garden furnished him with ideas as well as vegetables & amusement." See Life of Lope de Vega. Vol. 1. p. 93.13 Oranges.[14] It is said that the famous John de Castro, the Portuguese /commander/ conqueror in Asia, was the first who brought the orange-tree to Europe; "and that he esteemed this gift to his country as the greatest of his actions." Mickle's History of the Portuguese Empire in Asia, prefixed to his translation of the Lusiad. Mickle adds, that "three orange-trees are still preserved at Cintra, in memorial of the place where he first planted that valuable fruitage."[15] Poppy.[16] Virgil has a /beautiful/ fine comparison, which /Ariosto has/ was copied by Ariosto, of a beautiful youth dying, to a poppy surcharged with rain. (You can copy the prose--/Engl./ translation as usual, /---/ of Virgil. Ariosto (Canto 18. Come purpure flor) You can quote, & give the following version:) Like the red flow'r which in it's languor lies, Left by the plough-share not to rise again; Or as the poppy bows it's head, & dies, Beneath the silver burthen of the rain; So with his colour fled, & closing eyes, Dardinel's soul is gone; he clasps the plain. His soul is gone; & with it gone & fled The life & soul of all the men he led.[17] Laurel. [18] /-----/ (It is impossible to translate those passages, which contain a play upon the word Laura--l'aura,--as will be evident to you, when you think of it. The following are versions of others:) Amor fra l'erbe una leggiadra rete &c. Sonnett. 147 Love, 'mid the grass, laid forth a lovely net Of woven pearls & gold, under the veil Of that fair evergreen I love so well, Although it's shade is sad to me, while sweet. Arbour vittoriosa e trionfale &c Sonnett. 224 O thou victorious & triumphant tree Glory of poets & emperours, How many sad, & how many sweet hours, Hast thou, in this short life, bestowed on me! Will Tasso's address to a Laurel on his Lady's Hair in the Literary Pocket Book be /too much fo/ more than you want?[19] [Inset, bottom right] Intorno del bel culto e chiuso campo &c. Le Api del Rucellai O'er all the lawny field, lovely, shut in, Let the glad violet smile with it's sweet breath, And parsley green, & humble (what is this?) Which with a thousand roots, curling & crisp, Goes decking the green earth with drapery, And balm that never ceases uttering sweets, And heartsease, & origanum, & thyme, which nature made, on purpose to make honey.[20] Quand' escon' l'api &c. Id. When the bees issue from their nestling homes, And you behold them, through the clear blue aether, Swimming tow'rds heav'n like a wind-sprinkled cloud, Be on the watch; for then it is they go To feel the open air on a green oak, Or near a mossy & fresh-bubbling fountain. There follow them, & put the genial flavour Of the bruis'd balm or /lowly/ cerinth, and strike up The hollow brass or tremble-touching cymbal And you will see them suddenly come down Upon the season'd place, & so re-enter After their wonted fashion in their cells.[21] There are more notices of Laura & the laurel in the Indicator, if you want them. [Inset, Upper Right] I think that the following lines from our old friend W. Browne (whom we will read together again in Italy) would do /very ---/ for a motto to your book,[22] if you have not a better. So did the maidens with their various flowers Deck up their windows, & make neat their bowers: Using such cunning, as they did dispose The ruddy peony with the lighter rose, The monk's-hood with the bug loss, & entwine The white, the blue, the flesh-like columbine With pinks, sweet-williams; that far off the eye Could not the manner of their mixtures spy. W. Browne's Britannia's Pastorals.[23]
Transcript Notes	1 "Juniper underlined twice. The notes following were written on sheets separate from the letter and enclosed with it. 2 The passage on the juniper is found in Elizabeth Kent, Flora Domestica, pp. 243-44. 3 "Heath" underlined twice. 4 The passage on heath is found in Elizabeth Kent, Flora Domestica, p. 200. 5 "Flower" and "Gentle" are underlined twice. 6 The passage on the amaranth appears in Elizabeth Kent, Flora Domestica, p.20 7 "Roses" underlined twice. 8 The passage on roses is located in Elizabeth Kent, Flora Domestica, p. 380. 9 "Daisies" underlined twice. 10 Elizabeth Kent quoted these words without checking them. The line is "Wee modest, crimson-tipped flow'r" from "To a Mountain Daisy." 11 The passage on Daisies is found in Elizabeth Kent, Flora Domestica, p. 143. 12 "Love of Gardens" underlined twice. 13 The passage on gardens found in Elizabeth Kent, Flora Domestica, Preface, p. xvii. 14 "Oranges" underlined twice. 15 The passage on oranges is found in Elizabeth Kent, Flora Domestica, p.318. 16 "Poppy" underlined twice 17 The passage on poppies is found in Elizabeth Kent, Flora Domestica, p.342. 18 "Laurel" underlined twice. 19 The passage on laurel is found in Elizabeth Kent, Flora Domestica, p.66. 20 The passage is found in Elizabeth Kent, Flora Domestica, p.53. 21 The passage appears in Elizabeth Kent, Flora Domestica, p.54. 22 Flora Domestica. 23 Browne passage found in Elizabeth Kent, Flora Domestica, Preface p.xxxi.
Transcript By	Cheney, David R. (David Raymond), 1922-2006
Transcript Location	Ward M. Canaday Center for Special Collections: http://www.utoledo.edu/library/canaday/index.html
Letter Published In	Luther A. Brewer, ed. My Leigh Hunt Library, the Holograph Letters. Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 1938, pp. 124-125 [in part]; Hunter Pell McCartney, ed. "The Letters of Leigh Hunt in the Luther A. Brewer Collection: 1816-1825." Diss. University of Pennsylvania, 1958, pp. 70-81.

Title	Page1
Relation - Is Part Of	Leigh Hunt letter to Elizabeth Kent, June 15, 1822
Digital Collection	Leigh Hunt Letters
File Name	h94ke-1_Page1.jpg
Transcript	Genoa, 15th. June, 1822. Dearest Bebs, Your first sensation will be delight at receiving a letter from us; your second, surprise at it's being dated from here. It was not till we were out at sea, that I learnt the ship was bound for Genoa first. She goes to Leghorn in the course of a few days, perhaps not till a week, but the sailing here is like fancy-sailing, in a sea made for the purpose; so that you may reckon on our being arrived finally. However I need not tell you that I shall write again, the m[oment] we arrive again. We had a passage as smooth and fine as our channel voyage [was] deadly, somewhat too fine indeed latterly, for we might have been here tw[o] weeks ago, if it had not fell calm in the Mediterranean. But you will see all these things, and a thousand others, in my journal. We ran down the coast of Portugal with a fine wind, & have not had a single bad day, or hour, since we left. The Jane & Placidia, I find, must have had some more contrary winds by the time they /arrive/ took to arrive.-- The boatman tells me in good Italian, (which I answer) that I must finish, as the post closes soon. God bless you many, & all times, Bessy mine. How delighted am I to be able to delight you with this good news.-- Your sister's love & she begs you will remember her properly to her mother. Tell Novello, I cannot write to him by this post, but will by next. Mille Baci, & as many hopes to see you in Italy. Only think of Italy!-- Ever your most affectionate of dear friends, Leigh Hunt. [Continued, Top of Page 1] The two other pages will disappoint you at present. I wrote them at sea, to have them ready for you. The children are all well, myself promising, & your sister in better spirits, though she has unfortunately not lost her spitting of blood. But we hope much from rest.

Find results with:

Searching collections:

Home Page1

Leigh Hunt letter to Elizabeth Kent, June 15, 1822

Object Description

Description

Tags

Comments

Leigh Hunt letter to Elizabeth Kent, June 15, 1822

Leigh Hunt letter to Elizabeth Kent, June 15, 1822

	All
	Pages Enter page numbers or page ranges separated by commas. For example: 1,3,5-12