After eloping with the sixteen-year-old daughter of a retired tavern-keeper, Harriet Westbrook, whom he married in Scotland, he led a wandering life for a time until his financial position was improved upon his coming of age in 1813. By this time he and his wife had become estranged, and Shelley eloped with Mary Godwin and settled on the Continent. Two years later his wife committed suicide by drowning, and when Shelley attempted to secure the custody of his two children, it was denied him. Shelley now left England for good, visited one Italian city after another, and finally settled down at Pisa. Keats, Byron, and Hunt were among his close friends. "Adonais" is an elegy to Keats's memory. His poems may be divided into two classes. In the first class we have his three long poems, "Queen Mab," "The Revolt of Islam," and "Prometheus Unbound," each an attempt to apply the revolutionary principles of the period. In these he displays a progressive improvement, appearing at his best in "Prometheus Unbound." The second class, embracing "Alastor," "Adonais," and many shorter poems, includes his subjective works. They exceed in melody and illusive and mysterious beauty anything else of the century. The spirit of freedom and the spirit of beauty were the subjects of his muse. With some faults he had much beauty of character. He was beloved by all who knew him. He was kindness itself and spent much of his time dispensing charity among the poor, even to the point of self-deprivation. Easily excited to indignation at the least suspicion of oppression or wrong, he was at other times the gentlest of men. THE MAN 1. In what respect was Shelley preëminently a child of the French Revolution? 2. Compare his religious influence with that of Tennyson. XII, 6. 3. Give an account of his unfortunate marriages. 4. What may be said in his defense? 5. In what respect were the lives of Keats and Shelley similar? 6. Read Hunt's account of his death and cremation. VII, 220 ff. 7. Was Shelley irreligious? VII, 223 ff. STYLE AND WORKS 1. In what three poems does Shelley outline his views on human society? 2. Will his name outlast the interest in his writings? I, 181. 3. Why did Shelley fail in his attempt to apply freely the modern spirit to literature? I, 180. 4. With what great poems is "Adonais" classified, and why? IX, 105; XII, 47. 5. What qualities characterize his shorter poems? 6. In what respects does he outrank all subsequent poets? XI, 95. 7. State the qualities in which he resembles Keats. VII, 380. "TO A SKYLARK" AND OTHER POEMS 1. Where does the skylark remain while singing? 2. Which of the numerous similes that Shelley uses do you think most appropriate in a description of the skylark? 3. What are the qualities of the skylark's song which make it so famous? 4. To what does Shelley ascribe the unexcelled beauty of the bird's music?