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Percy Shelley

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Percy Shelley Famous memorial

Original Name
Percy Bysshe Shelley
Birth
Horsham, Horsham District, West Sussex, England
Death
8 Jul 1822 (aged 29)
Viareggio, Provincia di Lucca, Toscana, Italy
Burial
Rome, Città Metropolitana di Roma Capitale, Lazio, Italy GPS-Latitude: 41.8760113, Longitude: 12.4798253
Memorial ID
View Source

Poet. He was an early 19th-century English poet of the Romantic era. Born at Field Place, Sussex, England, one of six children to Elizabeth and Timothy Shelley. He attended both Eton and Oxford, during which time he had published a Gothic novel, "Zastrozz"' in 1810, and two volumes of juvenile verse. After his first year at university, he published the pamphlet "The Necessity of Atheism" in 1811, for which the Oxford authorities expelled him. In August of 1811, he eloped with Harriet Westbrook, a woman of no family or fortune, angering his wealthy father and grandfather. For the next two years, he published political pamphlets before the appearance of his first long poetic work, "Queen Mab: A Philosophical Poem," in 1813. The following year, he became enamored of Mary Godwin, and he abandoned the pregnant wife to escape with Godwin to Europe. They were largely ostracized upon their return, especially by their families. The death of his grandfather the following year, however, ensured an annual allowance. In 1816, "Alastor" or "The Spirit of Solitude: and Other Poems," a volume of his Romantic poetry appeared; a result of the famous summer at Lake Geneva, which also inspired Mary Godwin's novel, "Frankenstein." That December, his wife Harriet committed suicide, and within the month, he and Mary Godwin were officially married, though he lost custody of his two children by his first wife. In 1817, he produced "Laon and Cythna," a narrative poem, which was suppressed for its content; it was later edited and reissued as "The Revolt of Islam" in 1818. The same year, he and his wife left England and traveled to Italy. His most famed works were produced in Italy: "Ozymandias" in 1818, "The Masque of Anarchy" in 1819, "Ode To The West Wind" and "Prometheus Unbound" in 1820, and "Adonais" in 1821. In 1822, the Shelleys rented a villa on the Bay of San Terenzo, near Lerici, where he enjoyed sailing his boat, the "Don Juan." He then began writing his epic, "The Triumph of Life." A month before his thirtieth birthday, while attempting to sail from Leghorn to La Spezia, a squall capsized his boat, and both he and his friend drowned, leaving his last work unfinished. His body washed ashore ten days later on the beach near Viareggio where it was cremated. His ashes were buried in the Protestant Cemetery in Rome. His heart, possibly calcified by tuberculosis, resisted cremation. It was eventually buried at St Peter's Church, Bournemouth, with his wife Mary. He also has a cenotaph at St Mary the Virgin Churchyard, Horsham. The painting "The Funeral of Shelley" by Louis Éduard Fournier shows Shelley's cremation on the beach.

Poet. He was an early 19th-century English poet of the Romantic era. Born at Field Place, Sussex, England, one of six children to Elizabeth and Timothy Shelley. He attended both Eton and Oxford, during which time he had published a Gothic novel, "Zastrozz"' in 1810, and two volumes of juvenile verse. After his first year at university, he published the pamphlet "The Necessity of Atheism" in 1811, for which the Oxford authorities expelled him. In August of 1811, he eloped with Harriet Westbrook, a woman of no family or fortune, angering his wealthy father and grandfather. For the next two years, he published political pamphlets before the appearance of his first long poetic work, "Queen Mab: A Philosophical Poem," in 1813. The following year, he became enamored of Mary Godwin, and he abandoned the pregnant wife to escape with Godwin to Europe. They were largely ostracized upon their return, especially by their families. The death of his grandfather the following year, however, ensured an annual allowance. In 1816, "Alastor" or "The Spirit of Solitude: and Other Poems," a volume of his Romantic poetry appeared; a result of the famous summer at Lake Geneva, which also inspired Mary Godwin's novel, "Frankenstein." That December, his wife Harriet committed suicide, and within the month, he and Mary Godwin were officially married, though he lost custody of his two children by his first wife. In 1817, he produced "Laon and Cythna," a narrative poem, which was suppressed for its content; it was later edited and reissued as "The Revolt of Islam" in 1818. The same year, he and his wife left England and traveled to Italy. His most famed works were produced in Italy: "Ozymandias" in 1818, "The Masque of Anarchy" in 1819, "Ode To The West Wind" and "Prometheus Unbound" in 1820, and "Adonais" in 1821. In 1822, the Shelleys rented a villa on the Bay of San Terenzo, near Lerici, where he enjoyed sailing his boat, the "Don Juan." He then began writing his epic, "The Triumph of Life." A month before his thirtieth birthday, while attempting to sail from Leghorn to La Spezia, a squall capsized his boat, and both he and his friend drowned, leaving his last work unfinished. His body washed ashore ten days later on the beach near Viareggio where it was cremated. His ashes were buried in the Protestant Cemetery in Rome. His heart, possibly calcified by tuberculosis, resisted cremation. It was eventually buried at St Peter's Church, Bournemouth, with his wife Mary. He also has a cenotaph at St Mary the Virgin Churchyard, Horsham. The painting "The Funeral of Shelley" by Louis Éduard Fournier shows Shelley's cremation on the beach.

Bio by: Iola


Inscription

PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY

COR CORDIUM
NATUS IV AUG MDCCXCII
OBIT VIII JUL MDCCCXXII
"Nothing of him that doth fade,
but doth suffer a sea change
Into something rich and strange."



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  • Maintained by: Find a Grave
  • Added: Apr 25, 1998
  • Find a Grave Memorial ID:
  • Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/948/percy-shelley: accessed ), memorial page for Percy Shelley (4 Aug 1792–8 Jul 1822), Find a Grave Memorial ID 948, citing Campo Cestio, Rome, Città Metropolitana di Roma Capitale, Lazio, Italy; Maintained by Find a Grave.