' Without D'Arcy,
indeed, and the demonic power possessed by him, the story would have
no existence.
It is, of course, in the illustrated editions of _Aylwin_ that
D'Arcy's identification with Rossetti and his importance in the story
become specially manifest. On page 204 of the illustrated editions an
exact picture has been given by Rossetti's pupil, Dunn, of the famous
studio at 16 Cheyne Walk--the studio which will always be associated
with Rossetti's name. It has been immortalized by his friend, Dr.
Gordon Hake, in the following lines addressed to the author of
_Aylwin_ in the sonnet-sequence, _The New Day_:
Sitting with him, his tones as Petrarch's tender,
With many a speaking vision on the wall,
The fire, a-blaze, flashing the studio fender,
Closed in from London shouts and ceaseless brawl--
Twas you brought Nature to the visiting,
Till she herself seemed breathing in the room,
And Art grew fragrant in the glow of Spring
With homely scents of gorse and heather bloom.
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