The Nathaniel Hawthorne Library

The Dolliver Romance and Other Pieces Section VIII - Dr - Bullivant

In which an old Boston apothecary, famed alike for his phials and his pleasantries, moves through a little world where wit, loyalty, and public favor are perilously mingled. Over his quaint figure hangs that sober twilight in which colonial mirth and civic hazard become one moral emblem.

The Dolliver Romance and Other Pieces Section VII - Graves and Goblins

In which a ghostly narrator muses upon the nature of spirits and their lingering presence about graves, revealing a profound affection for a secluded resting place chosen in youth and reflecting on the varied fates of souls that haunt the night. Amongst tales of remorseful misers, tormented murderers, and noble patriots, he finds solace in the purity of a recently departed maiden whose ascent to the heavenly realms stirs hope for his own eventual release from earthbound shadows.

The Dolliver Romance and Other Pieces Section VI - The Antique Ring

In which a young literary aspirant is challenged by his beloved to weave a touching legend around an antique diamond ring, leading him to recount the troubled history of a talisman once gifted by Queen Elizabeth to the Earl of Essex and the dark fortunes it has borne through the centuries. This narrative gently unfolds amid a contemporary New England setting, where the ring’s sinister past is mysteriously softened by an act of humble charity, symbolising hope and faithful love.

The Dolliver Romance and Other Pieces Section V - My Visit to Niagara

In which a pilgrim approaches the mighty cataract of Niagara with high anticipation, yet experiences a subdued and reflective encounter marked by a gradual awakening to its majestic and eternal beauty. The narrative observes the varied impressions of other visitors and the serene solitude of the wilderness, capturing the complex interplay of nature’s grandeur and human sensibility.

The Dolliver Romance and Other Pieces Section IV - Fragments from the Journal of a Solitary Man

In which the scattered papers of a withdrawn and gifted man disclose a spirit that has lingered too much in dream, and too little in the warm fellowship of common life. Through his melancholy fragments there breathes a gentler lesson, that even the loneliest heart may turn homeward beneath the mild and chastening light of memory.