CONTENTS.

PAGE

CHAPTER I.

Shelley's birth at the Manor of Field Place, August 4, 1792 ;

his grandfather, Sir Dysshe Shelley ; his father, mother,
and sisters ; his early childhood ; Rev. Mr. Edwards of
Warnham, his first tutor ; goes to school at Sion House,
Brentford ; his character, temperament, and description of
his personal appearance

10

.

CHAPTER II.

Shelley goes to Eton ; description of his sufferings, of his per-

sonal pleasures; his friend Dr. Lind; the beginning of

his literary lise, “ Poems by Victor and Cazire," “ Night-

mare” and “ Zastrozzi"; matriculates at Oxford 1810;

friendship with Harriet Grove; "St. Irvyne, or the Rosi.

crucians"; "The Posthumous Fragments of Margaret

Nicholson”; the romance “Leonora "; friendship with

Thomas Jefferson Hogg, and anecdotes connected there.

with; the “ Necessity of Atheism"; Hogg and Shelley

expelled from Oxford in 1811

28

CHAPTER III.

Shelley's cngagement with his cousin Harriet Grove broken off

by her parents ; Hogg and Shelley take lodgings in Poland
Street ; Shelley banished from Field Place, and monetary
supplies stopped ; Shelley's “Poetical Essay on the Exist.
ing State of Things"; makes acquaintance with Harriet
Westbrook; description of her and her family; mone-
tary difficulties; elopement with Harriet Westbrook,
marriage, and journey to Edinburgh, where they are
joined by Hogg; correspondence with Miss Hitchener ;
Shelley, Harriet, and Hogs go to York; rupture with

PAGE

llogs ; Mr. and Mrs. Shelley joined by Eliza Westbrook ;

they move to Keswick and make acquaintance with

Southey; burglary at Keswick ; Mr. Westbrook allows

Harriet 6200 a year ; Shelley writes a romance, “ Hubert

Cauvin "; Shelley refuses to sign the entail ; is allowed

£200 a year by his father ; he corresponds with William

Godwin ; Shelley, Harriet, and Eliza move to Dublin; he

publishes his “Address to the Irish People"; moves

10 North Wales, makes Miss Hitchener's acquaintance,

and she goes to live with them; “ Letter to Lord

Ellenborough"; he makes acquaintance with William

Godwin ; rupture with Miss Hitchener ; "Queen Mab,”

and short poems written ; burglary episode at Tannyrallt ;

the trio return to Ireland, and then to Londɔn; birth of

Ianthe; estrangement with Harriet commences ; acquaint-

ance with the Boinvilles ; winter of 1813 spent in Edin.

burgh ; " The Refutation of Deism "; Shelley re-marries

Harrict ; Harriet leaves Shelley ; Shelley meets and falls

in love with Mary Godwin ; interview with Harriet ;

Shelley and Mary Godwin go to the Continent ; birth of

Charles Bysshe, and account of Harriet's death

• 52

CHAPTER IV.

Claire Clairmont accompanies her half-sister Mary and

Shelley ; journey to Paris and Switzerland ; Shelley coin-

mences his romance. “The Assassins"; they return to

England by way of the Reuss and Rhine ; Mary records

the trip in her “ History of a Six Weeks' Tour"; death

of Sir Bysshe Shelley ; arrangement with Sir Timothy,

which gives Shelley £1,000 a year, a fifth of which is

given to Harriet ; Shelley's health ; birth and death of

Mary's first child ; Claire Clairmont leaves the Shelleys ;

1

Mary and Shelley live at Bishopsgate, Windsor Park ;

Peacock resides at Marlow; they visit Oxford and other

places on the Thames ; “A Summer Evening Church.

yard "; description of “Queen Mab," and criticism ;

description and criticism of “ Alastor "; birth of Mary's
son William in 1816; in March of same year " Alastor and

PAGO

other Poems ” published ; unpleasantness with William
Godwin ; Mary and Shelley and Claire Clairmont go to
Geneva ; Mary and Shelley become acquainted with
Byron ; Claire Clairmont's liaison with Byron ; friendship
of the two poets ; “Hymn to Intellectual Beauty ” con.
ceived ; " Lines to Mont Blanc " composed ; they meet
“Monk" Lewis ; incidents connected with composition
of Mary Godwin's “Frankenstein ”; Shelley and Mary
return to England; they visit Peacock at Marlow; in 1817
they settle at West Marlow ; death of Godwin's adopted
daughter, Fanny Imlay ; Shelley visits Leigh Hunt, and
hears of Harriet's death ; reconciliation with William
Godwin ; Shelley and Mary Godwin married in London
on December 30, 1816

tos

.

CHAPTER V.

Mr. Westbrook gains custody of the two children ; birth of

Allegra ; Shelley meets Keats at Leigh Hunt's house in

1817 ; Shelley's poetic creations ; • Endymion” and

“ Laon and Cythna"; description and criticism of the

latter poem ; its publication under title of “Revolt of

Islam "; Mary and Shelley's second child born 1818 ;

“Rosalind and; Helen ”; “Prince Athanase”; “Ozy.

mandias”; “To Constantia Singing"; Shelley's prose

writings; "Essay on Christianity"; "A Proposal of

Putting Reform to the Vote”; “An Address to the

People on the Death of Princess Charlotte"; Shelley's

philanthropy at Marlow; christening of the children ;

Mary, Shelley, and children leave England 1818

124

CHAPTER VI.

The Shelleys meet the Gisbornes at Leghorn ; go to Bagni

Lucca ; Byron's conduct to Claire Clairmont and Allegra ;
Shelley goes to Byron in Venice ; Byron lends the Shelleys
his villa at Este; Shelley's little daughter Clara dies ;
"Julian and Maddalo”; “ Lines written among the
Euganean Hills"; Allegra returned to Byron's care ;
Shelley goes to Naples; “Stanzas, writfen in dejection