The poems of Shelley.: (1817-1819) - Vol. 2,

This is the second volume of the complete poems of Percy Bysshe Shelley. The edition presents all known poems by Shelley, fully annotated and arranged in chronological order.

This volume makes extensive use of the Shelley manuscripts in the Bodleian Library and draws on the substantial new research which has appeared over the last ten years on Shelley's text and contexts, and on members of his circle such as Mary Shelley, Byron, Godwin and others. It offers significant new datings and contextual exposition of major works inlcuding Prometheus Unbound, Laon and Cyntha, Julian and Maddalo, The Cenci, and Shelley's translations from the Greek, notably his highly original translation of Euripides' The Cyclops. There are also comprehensive treatments of some of Shelley's best known shorter poems, such as 'Lines written among the Euganean Hills' and Ozmandias'.

The annotation demonstrates the extraordinary range and richness of Shelley's literary intelligence, and situates his work in the revolutionary politics and social upheaval of the early nineteenth century. The text and annotation are supported by an extensive bibliography, a chronology, indexes, and appendices which include a detailed examination of the history of the Cenci story.