Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822), perhaps the most intellectually adventurous of the great romantic poets, personified the richly various- and contradictory- energies of his time. A classicist, a headlong visionary, a so...Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822), perhaps the most intellectually adventurous of the great romantic poets, personified the richly various- and contradictory- energies of his time. A classicist, a headlong visionary, a social radical, and a poet of serene artistry with a lyric touch second to none, shelley gave voice to English Romanticism's deepest aspirations.