Longman Annotated English Poets - 1: The Poems of Shelley

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Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822) is celebrated as a major Romantic poet, known for his exceptional lyric poetry. This first volume of a five-volume collection presents all of Shelley’s poems in chronological order, complete with thorough annotations. Each poem includes details about its composition and a fresh examination of relevant manuscript and printed sources to establish an authoritative text. Headnotes and footnotes offer essential personal, literary, historical, and scientific context for a deeper understanding of Shelley’s diverse and allusive verse. This volume features the 'Esdaile' poems, which became publicly accessible in the 1950s, arranged chronologically alongside Shelley’s early works, as well as "Queen Mab," his first major poem, with extensive prose notes. The Alastor volume is contextualized within Shelley’s overall poetic evolution. The recently discovered ‘Scrope Davies’ notebook reveals two unknown sonnets and alternative versions of key poems like ‘Hymn to Intellectual Beauty’ and ‘Mont Blanc,’ enhancing our comprehension of these significant works. This volume corrects long-standing errors and misunderstandings about Shelley’s poetry, providing fresh insights into his literary, philosophical, and political development. The collection represents the most comprehensive edition of Shelley’s poetry available for students and scholars.