自考《英美文学选读》浪漫主义时期4

　　V. Percy Bysshe Shelley

　　1. 一般识记 His Life

　　Shelley （1792-1822） was born into a wealthy family at Sussex. Though gentle by nature， his rebellious qualities were cultivated in his early years. At 18， Shelley entered Oxford University， where he had written & circulated a pamphlet， The Necessity of Atheism （1811）， repudiating the existence of God. This event resulted in his expulsion from the university & being disinherited by his headstrong father. Early in 1818， Shelley & his wife Mary left England for Italy. During the Remaining four years of his life， Shelley traveled & lived in various Italian cities. Shelley was drowned in 1822 in storm near La Spezia， at the age of 30.

　　2. 识记 His Literary Outlook

　　Shelley grew up with violent revolutionary ideas under the influence of the free thinkers like Hume & Godwin， so he held a life-long aversion to cruelty， injustice， authority， institutional religion & the formal shams of respectable society， condemning war， tyranny & exploitation， However， under the influence of Christian humanism， Shelley took interest in social reforms. He realized that the evil was also in man's mind. So he predicted that only trough gradual & suitable reforms of the existing institutions could benevolence be universally established & none of the evils would survive in this "genuine society"， where people could live together happily， freely & peacefully.

　　3. 识记 His major works

　　1） Lyrics： "To a Skylark" & "Ode to the West Wind"

　　In "To a Skylark，" the bird， suspended between reality & poetic image， pours forth an exultant song which suggests to the poet both celestial rapture & human limitation. Best of all the well-known lyric pieces is Shelley's "Ode to the West Wind " （1819）； here Shelley's rhapsodic & declamatory tendencies find a

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