Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822)

Abstract The modest number of sonnets Percy Bysshe Shelley composed during his brief literary career reflect remarkable stylistic diversity, justifying Words­ worth’s assessment of him as “one of the best artists of us all” in terms of “workmanship of style.” Shelley’s sonnets reflect, too, many of his strongest political and philosophical views, from the pained dismay he expresses at Wordsworth’s increased conservativism in “To Wordsworth,” to the apocalyptic litany he chants in condemnation of George Ill’s debilitated government in “England in 1819.” His passionate and unconventional views led to controversy during his lifetime. Shelley spent the final years of his life in Europe, where he produced such important works as Prometheus Unbound (1820), “Ode to the West Wind” (1820), and Epipsychidion (1821).