Posthumous Poems

Posthumous Poems

Title page
Author	Percy Bysshe Shelley
Language	English
Genre	Poetry
Published	London: C. H. Reynell for John and Henry L. Hunt, 1824
Publisher	John and Henry L. Hunt
Publication date	1824
Publication place	UK
Pages	415

Posthumous Poems is a collection of poems by Percy Bysshe Shelley, with a preface by his widow Mary Shelley, which was published in 1824 in London by John and Henry L. Hunt.

Publication

Ruth S. Granniss makes the following statement about the circumstances of the publication: "It was with difficulty that a publisher was found for the book, the sale of two hundred and fifty copies being guaranteed by Thomas Lovell Beddoes, Bryan Waller Proctor ("Barry Cornwall") and Thomas Forbes Felsall. ["Felsall" is a typographical error for "Kelsall".] The original intention to include certain prose pieces was abandoned on account of the size of the volume."

Contents

The collection begins with a preface by Mary Shelley written in London on June 1, 1824. The first poems selected are unpublished posthumous poems. Poems are also listed under "Miscellaneous Poems", "Fragments", and "Translations". The newly published poems are The Witch of Atlas, Julian and Maddalo, and The Triumph of Life. Shelley's previously published poem is also included: Mont Blanc from History of a Six Weeks' Tour (1817) and a different poem with the same title Mutability as the one from Frankenstein (1818) and Alastor (1816).

The poems contained in the collection include:

• Love's Philosophy
• The Witch of Atlas
• Julian and Maddalo
• A Dirge
• One Word is Too Often Profaned
• The Triumph of Life
• Music, When Soft Voices Die
• Prince Athanase
• Prince Athanase, Part II
• Mont Blanc
• Mutability (1821-1822 poem)

Shelley's final unfinished verse dramas are also included:

• Charles the First (Percy Bysshe Shelley play), on the period before the English Civil Wars and the conflict with Parliament
• Fragments from an Unfinished Drama, about an Enchantress on an Indian Archipelago island who rescues a Pirate, falls in love with him, and uses supernatural powers to bring him back after he departs for his mortal love.

Sources

• Granniss, Ruth S. (1923). A descriptive catalogue of the first editions in book form of the writings of Percy Bysshe Shelley, based on a memorial exhibition held at The Grolier Club from April 20, to May 20, 1922. New York: The Grolier Club. pp. 78–81.
• Shelley, Percy Bysshe (1824). Shelley, Mary (ed.). Posthumous Poems. London: C. H. Reynell for John and Henry L. Hunt.
• Wilson, Patrick J. "Shelley's Posthumous Ditty". International Journal of English Literature and Social Sciences (IJELS), Vol-4, Issue-3, May-June, 2019. Retrieved 19 January 2025

Further reading

• Gamer, Michael (2008). "Shelley Incinerated". The Wordsworth Circle. 39 (1/2): 23–26.
• Gates, Payson G. (1948). "Leigh Hunt's Review of Shelley's 'Posthumous Poems'". The Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America. 42 (1): 1–40.
• Poetry: Book Review. Clemit, Pamela. "Unpolished gems. The afterlife of Shelley’s unfinished poetry". The Times Literary Supplement, July 8, 2022. Retrieved 20 January 2026.

External links

• Works related to The Complete Poetical Works of Percy Bysshe Shelley (ed. Hutchinson, 1914)/Mrs. Shelley's Preface to Posthumous Poems, 1824 at Wikisource
• Posthumous Poems. London: Hunt, 1824. Archive.org.
• Posthumous Poems. London: Hunt, 1824. HathiTrust.