ABSTRACT
These three lines from Nbk 10 f. 23r rev. would appear to relate to the death of S.’s son William at Rome on 7 June 1819: see headnote to My lost William, thou in whom [To William Shelley], no. 254. The fragment's position in the nbk would be consistent with a date of composition between 7 June and mid-October 1819. A daughter, mother and a grandmother (no. 242), which occupies the bottom twothirds of the page, appears to have been drafted in the latter half of October, so that A swift and hidden Spirit, written at the top of the page, was probably in place before then. Mary transcribed the lines with slight omissions into Mary Copybk 2 75. William died at about noon. The comma at the end of the final line of the draft may indicate that S. at first intended to go on to develop the analogy in ll. 2–3 between the spirit's effect upon its victim and the increased beauty of the day at sunset, a relation implicit in his account of William's final days in a letter to Hogg of 25 July 1819:
Your little favourite had improved greatly both in mind and body before that fatal fever seized him. He had lost all shade of ill-temper, and had become affectionate and sensible to an extraordinary degree, his spirits had a very unusual vivacity—it was impossible to find a creature more gentle and intelligent.—His health and strength appeared to be perfect; and his beauty, the silken fineness of his hair, the transparence of his complexion, the animation and deep blue colour of his eyes were the astonishment of everyone.
(L ii 104)