The Literary Tribute by Fatema Aftab Miah

PAGE 5
Mary Shelley Wins Her
Husband's Heart
After the abrupt announcement of Percy Bysshe Shelly’s tragic death,
the young poet was cremated, and his ashes were buried by his loved
ones at the Protestant Cemetery situated in Rome. But there was an
integral part of P. B Shelley that refused to burn out - his heart!
While the rest of his body turned to ashes, Shelley’s reportedly
“unusually small” heart was merely scorched. His friend - and identifier
of his corpse - Edward John Trelawny, passed Shelley’s heart to
another friend/writer, Leigh Hunt who flat-out refused to hand it over
to Mary Shelley and instead preserved the organ in a jar of wine.
Luckily, Mary Shelley was relentless in
her pursuit and Leigh eventually
yielded. Mary finally won the heart of
her husband, and she buried it at
either Christchurch Priory or St.Peter’s
Church, apart from his grave.
The Latin inscription Cor Cordium was
etched atop P.B Shelley’s tombstone
at the Protestant Cemetery, which
translates to ‘Heart of Hearts’ and
although Shelley might not have been
cremated and buried with his actual
heart, it would be wrong to say that he
rests without one.
1792-1822