In the pantheon of English poets, Shelly has long occupied a lofty place, his poems as admired for their profound thought and subtle perceptions as for the music and fervor of their language. His life as well as his poetry embraced the passions, ideals and causes of Romanticism, whose emergence and early influences coincided with the dates of his own brief life (1792-1822). This selection of many of his best-known and most representative poems will give readers an exciting encounter with one of the most original and stimulating figures in English poetry.