"I send you the two notes, which will tell you the story I allude
to of the Auto da Fè. Shelley's allusion to his 'fellow-serpent' is
a buffoonery of mine. Goethe's Mephistofilus calls the serpent who
tempted Eve 'my aunt, the renowned snake;' and I always insist that
Shelley is nothing but one of her nephews, walking about on the tip
of his tail."
* * * * *