The poet of Lyrics, P.B. Shelley belong to a aristocratic family of Sussex on August 4, 1792. Shelley was the eldest son of Timothy and Elizabeth. He was educated at Eton where he was known as “MAD SHELLEY.” Being a sensitive boy, he revolt against the tyrannical system of Eton. Shelley was expelled from the Oxford University in 1811 for circulating a pamphlet “The necessary of Atheism” then, he moved to London and lived alone and wrote. There he eloped with and married , “Harriet Westbrook” who was than only 16 and Shelley himself was only 19 years of age. But his marriage proved very unfortunate and Harriet committed suicide in 1816. after the death of Harriet ,Shelley passed some time with Leigh hunt at Hampstead and on December 1816, married ‘Mary Godwin’, the daughter of the great philosopher William Godwin. This second marriage proved very happy to him , for in Mary he found his intellectual companion.

Percy Bysshe Shelley


P.B. Shelley was the most revolutionary of the younger revolutionary Romantic poets. He was a visionary and idealist with a passion reforming the world. Godwin, the great philosopher and idealist made a profound impact on Shelley’s thought and ideology. he also came into close contact with a number of English and European celebrities including Byron, Trelawney, Love Peacock and many more shelley set out on a continental journey. he reached in 1822 he was Italy in 1818, and drowned while sailing across the Bay of Spezzia. He was buried in the Protestant cemetery in Rome. On his grave were inscribed the following lines Frome the Shakespeare’s Tempest :

Nothing of him that doth fade,

But doth suffer a sea-change

Into something rich and strange.

 

There are three principles of Shelley –

1.      Political ridiculous

2.      strict vegetarian

3.      free verse

Shelley’s literary works

Some major literary works of Shelley are as follows-

Longer poems

Queen mob   (1813) - This is the first poem of Shelley. It is a philosophical poem. It published in 1815. a revised edition is published in 1816 under the title “The Daemon of the World”. Shelley uses the form of a fairy tale. Queen mob is a fairy.

Alastor; The spirit of Solitude

This is Shelley’s long poem of 720 lines . it is written in 1815and published in 1816. Alastor is the title which is suggested by Thomas Love Peacock. It is a roman word. It means “evil genius” .It is Shelley’s spiritual autobiographical poem. The poet gives flow to his personal moods.  He journeys in search of an ideal beauty . The poem is obscure and formless. It is known for its lyrical passage and striking Shelleyan  imagery.

The Revolt of Islam

The Revolt of Islam is Shelley’s poem in Spenserian stanza. This poem is in 12 cantos. It is composed in 1817 and published in 1818. It is originally published with the title “ Loan and Cythna “ or “ The revolution of the Golden City: A Vision of the Nineteenth Century” . It is dedicated to “Mary Shelley”. Cythna is a heroic lady. Her mission  is to bring aboput the liberation of Mankind. Her work with Loan raises the spirit of revolt among the people against their Tyrants. The poem shoes the Shelley’s zeal and regard far humanity. This poem glorified liberty and love

O Love, who to the hearts of the wondering men

Arts as the calm to ocean’s weary waves!

Rosalind and Helen

Julian and maddalo

It is a conversational poem written in 1817,and published in 1818. . it consists 617lines.it is a heroic couplet. It is in dialogue form. It represents the conversation between Julian and maddalo.The themes of this poem is “power of the man and potency of human mind . Julian is Shelley and maddalo is Byron . the power of goodness is reflects as a little child. Here are some popular lines from Julian and  Maddalo.

Most wretched men

Are cradled into poetry by wrong .

They learn in suffering what they teach in song.

Peter bell, the third

“ Peter bell, the third” is shelley’s parody of Wordsworth’s poem “Peter Bell” . it is a satirical poem .  the poet shows Peter’s progress through a black , comic underworld. He declares progress in 7 section namely, ‘ Death’, ‘the devil’ ‘hell’ , ‘sin’ ,’grace’ , ‘damnation’, and double damnation . the famous line is-

Hell is the city much like London .

The sensitive plant
The witch of Atlas

It is a fanciful poem it is written in 1820and published posthumously in 1824. it contains 48ottava rima stanza. It ios about a quest for the perfect union. It is a story of a witch who lived in a cave on Atlas. Shelley dedicated this poem to Mary Shelley.

Epipsychidin

Adonais

Adonais is Shelley’s

Pastoral elegy on the death of Keats. It is written in 1821. it has 55 Spenserian

Stanza of 9 lines each. It ha s495 lines. Adonais is a wonderful threnody, bewailing the song of grief, over the death of the poet Keats. The poet presents a number of mourners. He attacks Keats’ critics. Then he presents his pantheistic philosophy.

Songs lyrics and Sonnets

Mutability
To Coleridge
To Wordsworth
Hymn to Intellectual Beauty
Mont Blanc
Ozamandias: A Sonnet
The Cloud
To a Skylark
Love’s philosophy
Ode to Liberty
Arethusa
Rarely, Rarely Comest Thou
On the death of Napolean
The Dirge
A Lament
 The Indian Serenade
Arial to Miranda
Ode to the West Wind
O World! O Life! O Time!
To Night
Stanza Written in Dejection Near Naoles

Lyrical plays

Prometheus Unbound

Prometheus Unbound is a four act lyrical drama by Shelley. It is published in 1820. it is concerned with the torments of the Greek mythological figure Prometheus, who defies the Gods and gives fire to Humanity. He is punished for his act. He suffers much at the hands of Zeus.

The Cenci

The Cenci , a tragedy in five acts is a verse drama by Shelley. It is written in the summer of 1819, and inspired by a real Italian Family. The Cenci is dedicated to Leigh Hunt.it is written in blank verse.

Hellas

Hellas is a lyrical drama. It is written in1821 and published in 1822. it is Shelley’s last published work during his lifetime. It is dedicated to Prince  Alexander Mavrocordato. This drama highlights the Sultan Mahmud  who takes the charge of the Turkish attack on Greece.

Oedipus Tyrannus; Or Swellfoot The Tyrant

Critical prose Works

A defence of poetry

A Defence of Poetry is Shelley’s prose work. It is written in 1821 and published posthumously in 1840. it reveals Shelley’s claims that “ poets are the unacknowledged legislators of the world.” The essay is written in response to his friend Thomas Love Peacock’s The Four Ages of Poetry.

On the Necessity of Atheism

The necessity of Atheismis an essay on Atheism by Shelley. It is published in 1811. he was expelled from oxford University for this pamphlet.


Conclusion

P.B. Shelley is an English Romantic Poet. Shelley’s genius mainly rests upon as a lyric poet. Swinburne truly regards him “The Perfect singing God”.   

As a poet P.B. Shelley contributed a new quality to English literature – a quality of idealistA, freedom and spiritual audacity. Thus we can say that P.B. Shelley is the most famous poet of Romantic age .