I took a few minutes today to visit the graveyard at
St Peter's Church in Bournemouth, to look for a grave that connects Livorno and Bournemouth: that of the Shelley family. The English Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley spent several periods in
Livorno from 1818 to 1820, writing works such as The Cenci, and To a Skylark there. He died two years later in a boating accident near La Spezia and was cremated on the beach near Viareggio. His heart, however, was buried in this cemetery in Bournemouth, alongside his wife, Mary (author of Frankenstein), his son Percy, and Percy's wife, Jane. Curiously, no mention is made of Shelley's heart on the gravestone, but the church assures me it is here. Unfortunately for Livorno, Shelley's ashes were buried in the English cemetery in Rome. Had they been brought to Livorno, the city's
old English cemetery would certainly be better known than it is today.
After taking a few photos, I went inside the 19th-century church for a quick look and was amused to find a café in one corner, with several people chatting and enjoying their morning tea together. How very English!
I took a few minutes today to visit the graveyard at St Peter's Church in Bournemouth, to look for a grave that connects Livorno and Bournemouth: that of the Shelley family. The English Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley spent several periods in Livorno from 1818 to 1820, writing works such as The Cenci, and To a Skylark there. He died two years later in a boating accident near La Spezia and was cremated on the beach near Viareggio. His heart, however, was buried in this cemetery in Bournemouth, alongside his wife, Mary (author of Frankenstein), his son Percy, and Percy's wife, Jane. Curiously, no mention is made of Shelley's heart on the gravestone, but the church assures me it is here. Unfortunately for Livorno, Shelley's ashes were buried in the English cemetery in Rome. Had they been brought to Livorno, the city's old English cemetery would certainly be better known than it is today.
After taking a few photos, I went inside the 19th-century church for a quick look and was amused to find a café in one corner, with several people chatting and enjoying their morning tea together. How very English!
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