77: Shelley: The Pursuit, 1974, by Richard Holmes (1945–)
I read this book back at the birth
Of my mad Shelley phase.
’Twas Mary whom I chased, of course,
For thousands of wild days.
But Richard Holmes’s stunning work
Supplied foundations stout—
I learned from Holmes—and felt that I
Knew Shelley inside out.*
Holmes didn’t sit in archives—no.
He traveled everywhere.
And this became the plan I used
With Mary here and there.
See, scholarship, in Holmes’s view,
Is being at the place
Where literary magic was—
Yes, this was Holmes’s chase
…**
*Arrogant and presumptuous, I know ...
**And became mine ...
**And became mine ...
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