Percy Bysshe Shelley
Percy Bysshe Shelley, from the early 19th century, was "the most determinedly professional writer of all the English Romantic poets" . This is seen in not only his symphonic poems like the Ode to the West Wind, his lyrical sonnets such as Lines written among the Euganean Hills amongst The Cloud, To a Skylark and many others, his political rhymes like The Revolt of Islam and Queen Mab and his narrative verses like Adonais, Alastor and Epipsychidion. It is also obvious in his poetic dramas with Prometheus Unbound and The Cenci as prime examples and his famous essay The Defense of Poetry. In Shelley's view, "the poet is a dreamer, a visionary" who must use these dreams and visions to "persuade men to shake off the chains of the past, of custom, of selfishness, and to press onward to the vital task of constructing a world characterized by kindness, generosity, and love." Shelley was born "the eldest son of a wealthy squire" on August 4th, 1792 at Field Place near Horsham. He attended Eton, "the most famous of the English public schools" , where he was bullied by older boys and resented their tyranny and became "determined to fight against all forms of tyranny" . At university, Shelley began reading books by radical political write
Shelley and Keats, two world-renowned poets, had admired some of each others works but were never became intimate or close friends or acquaintances. Adonais, considered "after Lycidas, John Milton's famous elegy composed on the occasion of the death of his friend, Edward King, to be the greatest of English elegies" , was Shelley's tribute to Keats. The tribute seemed to be motivated more by Keats' availability as a misunderstood slain virtuoso than by the death of Keats the person or friend etc. Adonais was the name Shelley gave to Keats in this piece and is designed to suggest Adonis of Greek legend: Thine azure sister of the Spring shall blow (modified c) -Grover Cronin, Jr., The Romantic Poets; New York; Thor Publications, Inc., 1964 ity expelled Shelley for these pamphlets. Shelley then moved to Scotland with his sixteen-year-old bride Harriet Westbrooke creating a terrible scandal which he never received his father's forgiveness for. Revolutionary speeches on politics and religion in Ireland was next for Shelley and after his A Declaration of Rights pamphlet on the French Revolution was deemed too radical, he returned to England to pursue radical politics. He met William Godwin whom, by this time; he had developed a philosophical correspondence with, renewed his friendship with Leigh Hunt and realized he couldn't handle having only one woman in his life. Shelley formed a strong friendship with Mary Godwin and Jane Clairmont and spent a lot of time with them. "During this time the feelings between Mary and Percy developed into mutual passion" and Shelley was torn between his loyalty for his wife and his love for Mary... in the end he chose Mary. After revealing this to William Godwin, who was appalled by t! -http://www.english.upenn.edu/~jlynch/FrankDemo/PShelley/pshelley.html Breathed o'er his dark fate one melodious sigh: I silently laugh at my own cenotaph, -http://www.bartleby.com/139/shel110.html Good, great and joyous, beautiful and free;
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 3291
Approximate Pages = 13 (250 words per page double spaced)
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