Chapter Sharp to Shelley of S by Biographical Dictionary of English Literature

shown in Prometheus, Hellas, and some of his shorter poems, such as “The Skylark,” he is probably unsurpassed, and in his Cenci he exhibits dramatic power of a high order. Among his shorter poems are some which reach perfection, such as the sonnet on “Ozymandias,” “Music when soft voices die,” “I arise from dreams of thee,” “When the lamp is shattered,” the “Ode to the West Wind,” and “O world! O life! O time!” During his short life of 30 years he was, not unnaturally, the object of much severe judgment, and his poetic power even was recognised by only a few. Posterity has taken a more lenient view of his serious errors of conduct, while according to his genius a shining place among the immortals.

The best edition of the Works is that of Buxton Forman (4 vols.). There are edition of the Poems by W. M. Rossetti (1894), Dowden (1891), etc. Lives by Medwin (1847), J. A. Symonds (1887), W. M. Rossetti, Professor Dowden, T. Jefferson Hogg, and others.