A poet is a nightingale, who sits in the darkness and sings to cheer his loneliness with sweet sounds – Shelley (shimmering notes by Percy Shelley). Percy Bysshe Shelley was born on August 4, 1792 in Broadbridge Heath, England. He was the eldest son of Timothy Shelley, Member of Parliament, and Elizabeth Shelley (biography "Percy Bysshe Shelley"). He was highly respected by all five of his younger siblings and also by the maids who worked for his family. Since he was in line to inherit not only his grandfather's considerable estate, but also a seat in parliament ("Academy of American Poets"). Shelley grew up during the Victorian Age which encompassed artistic, intellectual and literary movements that shaped the lifestyle of many people. The Romantic Age was the starting point for many famous poets we know today such as William Wordsworth and Geoffrey Chaucer. Artists and poets during this period also respected nature and saw nature as life itself and gave it meaning in their works. These men were extremely popular in the early 1800s, when Percy really began to feel a connection to himself and some of the great poets of his time. Percy Bysshe Shelley's works, including Ozymandias, Ode to the West Wind, and The Masque of Anarchy, express Shelley's infatuation with the beauty of nature and also show his passion for a less restrained society and his desire for more individual freedoms. As a child, Percy was carefree and independent. wherever he pleased and exploring his surroundings. He learned to fish and hunt in the meadows surrounding his home. He often observed the rivers and fields with his cousin and close friend Thomas Medwin. “…madness hung like a hair above Shelley's head” (“Percy Bysshe Shelley”). At the age…middle of the chart…suitable to understand his messages and help him continue to plant his seeds or ideas even after he is long gone. Shelley was reviled in England, which forced him to emigrate and spend his last four years of life in Italy (Kirsch). On July 8, 1822, Percy Bysshe Shelley was found dead, presumably drowned while sailing to visit some friends (“Percy Bysshe Shelley“). His body, thrown onto the shore, was burned in the presence of Byron and another radical, Leigh Hunt. , and the ashes were buried in the Protestant cemetery just outside the walls of Rome (Fletcher). Some people believe he was murdered by an enemy who took no exception to his political beliefs. His works will live on through the ages and will be passed down from generation to generation in hopes of achieving what Percy so desperately sought, the death of oppression, depression and discrimination..