Brief Introduction of P.

B Shelley
Early life

Percy Bysshe Shelley is one of the most popular English Romantic poets, and is
regarded as a great lyrical poet in English language. He was born on 4th of August
1792 in England.

In 1811, Shelley eloped with Harriet Westbrook to Edinburgh but their marriage
collapsed soon and he then eloped with Mary Godwin. He traveled many countries
including Italy, Germany, Switzerland and France. He belongs to an aristocratic
family and got education from Oxford Universities.

Note: Our main concern is not to study his biography rather we focus on his
writing style, motivation and literary works.

A Glimpse of Romanticism/ Features

1. Individuality/Democracy/Personal Freedom

2. Spiritual/Supernatural Elements

3. Nature as a Teacher

4. Interest in Past History/Ancient Greek and Roman Elements

5. Celebration of the Simple Life

6. Interest in the Rustic/Pastoral Life

7. Interest in Folk Traditions

8. Use of Common Language

9. Use of Common Subjects

10. One Sided/Opinionated

11. Idealized Women

12. Frequent Use of Personification

13. Examination of the Poet's Inner Feelings

Contemporaries of P.B Shelley

1. William Blake (1757-1827)
2. William Wordsworth (1770-1850)
3. S.T Coleridge (1772-1834)
4. Lord Byron (1788-1824)
5. John Keats (1795-1821)

Writing Styles of P.B Shelley

Shelley was a famous English romantic poet whose poetry reflects passion, beauty,
imagination, love, creativity, political liberty and nature. Being very sensitive and
possessing distinctive qualities of hope, love, joy and imagination, Shelley strongly
believed in realization of human happiness.

1. Used a lot of powerful symbolism and imagery, especially visual.

2. Liked to imitate the style of William Wordsworth.
3. Poems reflect his life circumstances, friends, and political beliefs.
4. Liked to take the unpopular side of arguments and social issues.
5. Pursued the ideal but was also skeptical.

Literary Contribution
The best known classic poems of Shelley include “Ode to the West Wind,
“Ozymandias”, “Music, To a Skylark”, “The Cloud”, “The Mask of
Anarchy” and “When Soft Voices Die”. There are also other major works which
include visionary and long poems like “Alastor”, “Queen Mab”, “Adonais”, “The
Triumph of Life”, and “The Revolt of Islam”. His visionary poetry dramas include,
“Prometheus Unbound” and “The Cenci”.

Shelley contributed several essays on the topic of vegetarianism; two of the most
popular works among them include “On the Vegetable System of Diet” and “A
Vindication of Natural Diet”.
Shelley’s Source of Inspiration/ Motivation
Shelley uses nature as his primary source of poetic inspiration. In such poems as
“The Mask of Anarchy Written on the Occasion of the Massacre at Manchester”
(1819) and “Ode to the West Wind,” Shelley suggests that the natural world holds
a sublime power over his imagination.