Symonds wrote this sketch in 1878 and revised it after Edward Dowden’s full life appeared. He follows Shelley from Sussex and Eton to his expulsion from Oxford, his marriages to Harriet Westbrook and Mary Godwin, his friendship with Byron and his last years in Italy, defending the poet’s generosity and self-denial while not hiding his errors.
A sympathetic, elegant short life by a gifted critic of poetry. Download the free EPUB.