The Tragic Life and Death of Shelley page 4

"A radiant death - a fiery sepulchre."

Yet it was some time before the world awoke to his greatness and the realisation that he will be the poet of the future.

When all was over, the mourning ended, the sea-dog Trelawney, described by Shelley as "terrible and lovely as a tempest," proposed marriage to his widow. Mary Shelley might have accepted, had there been nothing in her heart to rival the offer. But she looked into the future, saw her own end coming, and declined to do anything that would deprive her tombstone of so pretty a name as - Mary Shelley.