Helena was quite ignorant of the fact that Madame de Stael
outlived the Corinna ideal, and did not become a real influence until
she came out of her dreamworld into the world of facts.
She ceased to take an interest in everyday affairs, she communed with
herself and brooded over her ego. The inheritance which her mother had
left her in posthumous notes began to germinate. She identified herself
with both Corinna and her mother, and spent much time in meditating on
her mission in life. That nature had intended her to become a mother
and do her share in the propagation of the human race, she refused to
admit her mission was to explain to humanity what Madame de Stael's
Corinna had thought fifty years ago; but she imagined the thoughts were
her own, striving to find expression.
She began to write. One day she attempted verse. She succeeded. The
lines were of equal length and the last words rhymed. A great light
dawned on her: she was a poetess. One thing more remained: she wanted
ideas; well she could take them from _Corinna_.
In this way quite a number of poems originated.
But they had also to be bestowed on the world, and this could not be
done unless they were printed. One day she sent a poem entitled
_Sappho_ and signed _Corinna_ to the _Illustrated Newspaper_.
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