Percy Bysshe Shelley -
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Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822)
Percy Bysshe Shelley was a poet and essayist as well as writing political pamphlets. Born in 1792 into a wealthy family, he was educated at Eton and Oxford where he began publishing his writing. In 1811 he was expelled from the university for his contribution to a pamphlet entitled, The Necessity of Atheism. By the age of 19, already a political radical, he had eloped with the 16 year old Harriet Westbrook, was estranged from his family and living in Ireland in relative poverty.
His first major published work, Queen Mab, was born out of his association with the philosopher, William Godwin. A year later, in 1814, Shelley eloped with Mary, the 16 year old daughter of Godwin and Mary Wollstonecraft, even though he was still married. During their subsequent travels round Europe Shelley and Mary were associated with many writers including Lord Byron. Shelley was inspired by this friendship to write ‘Hymn to Intellectual Beauty’ in 1817. Between 1818 and 1819 Shelley was at the height of his powers, composing, amongst other works, Prometheus Unbound. In 1821 he wrote Adonais when he heard of the death of John Keats.
He died aged nearly 30 in 1822, drowned in a sailing accident in the Mediterranean.
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