December 8th Dream Women Shaped His Destiny Thomas De Quincey (1885-1859). Levana and Our Ladies of Sorrow. Vol. 27, pp. 319-325 of The Harvard Classics De Quincy imagined that three women were sent to him so that he might know the depths of his soul. Real women could not have wielded greater influence. It is fortunate that everyone does not meet these weird women. (Thomas De Quincy died Dec. 8, 1859.)