Page:Recollections of Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1904).djvu/82

Chapter IX.

Influence of the occult upon Rossetti—"Rose Mary"—Swinburne's ecstasy—"Proserpine"—"Cassandra"—John Trivett Nettleship—Edward Hughes—Lewis Carroll—Longfellow—Rossetti's methods—An appraisement of his work—Conclusion.

In recalling the foregoing scenes, I have many times asked myself why I should relate them, and whether such things were not too trivial to set down in writing? And my answer to myself was always, that the interest displayed by Rossetti towards everything bearing on the occult gave an insight to his nature, and however inconsequential these incidents may appear, they show how largely both his poetry and his painting were influenced by the bent of his mind in that direction, and his yearning for the unseen. He would often talk about spiritualism for hours, and many were the curious experiences of ours which we revealed to each other. And, as in a disconnected dream, the conversation would sometimes wander into paths not thought of before, and hence these relations occasionally had their uses.

I recollect on one occasion I had just come from visiting a neighbour—a lady who possessed the original dreaming stone of Dr. Dee⁹⁹ which she allowed me to