Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822)
Forward:
I. A poet "Ode to the West Wind"
II. A Revolutionary
In "Ode t the West Wind," we have a strong suggestion of shelley's spirit. The very spirit of nature, as reflected in the cloud, the moonrise, the wind, the sunset, seeing to have possessed him. At such times, he is a ture poet.
At other times, he is also a revolutionary. He joins Byron in voicing his vain rebellion against society. Byron's rebellion took the form of bitterness and defiance; Shelley was quiet and modest. His rebellion took a form of an inner rage.
IN award, Shelley's poetry is pure lyricism, full of ryhthm and melody, no other English poet is more musical.
His Life
I. Nicknames
A. " Mad Shelley"
B. " Shelley the Atheist" (1811)
II. His elopement
A. with Harriet
B. (1814) the rest of his life
III. Public indignation
IV. His death
I.) Shelley was forever at war with the present world. He just couldn't presuad himself to sympathize with men and society as they are.
He came from a wealthy family, as a boy, he recieved the nickname, " Mad Shelley" because of his sensitive nature and lively imagination. He often reacted to his boyhood experiences with exaggerated emotionalism, and Shelley had a second nickname, Shelley, the "Atheist", because of his refusal of to conform to any religions. In 18111, he was expelled frm Oxford University, becouse of he's writing a pamphlet called " The Necessity of Atheism". And also of his refusal to give the authorities satisfectory explanationf for his weird ideas.
II.)-A In the same year, he elope with Harriet Westbrook, the 16-year-old daughter of a former coffee house owner. They became actively involved in political social reforms for two years they wander about England, Ireland, and Wales, then, Shelley out grew Harriet and abondoned her.
-B In 1814, he ran wasy to the Continent with Mary Godwin, a 16-year-old daughter of William Godwin, a famous philosopher and novelist, with her, Shelley lived the rest of his life.
(* In 1817, in order to entertain her husband and Byron, Mary Shelley wrote one of the world's most popular novels of horror, " Frankenstein." )
III.) In 1816, Shelley returned to England, in the same year, Harriet committed suicide, she drowned herself in the Hyde Park. Shelley married Mary immediatedly. The public indignation against Shelley rose high, and the court deprived him of his children. In 1881, Shelley went to Italy, and never returned.
IV.) In 1822, when only 30 years of age, Shelley went of shore on a small boat, and was drowned when a sudden strom broke over him. His body recovered and cremated, his bone ashes were placed in the " Protestment Cemetery at Rome, near the grave of Keats, whose latest volum of poetry was found in his pockeet when his body was recorvered.
His Works:
As with Byron, the poetry of Shelley which charms the average reader today was his short lyric verse.
"The Cloud"
"To a skylark"
"Ode to the West Wind"
"To Night"
*"Adonais"
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