This book establishes Percy Bysshe Shelley's view of poetry as 'living melody' and sets it within the wider context of Romantic-era thought.

Ross Wilson is Lecturer in Literature at the School of Literature, Drama, and Creative Writing, University of East Anglia.

Introduction; 1. Poetry and the theory of life; 2. Living losing life; 3. Mere wheels of work; 4. Happier forms; 5. Sounds of air; 6. Poetry and the life of theory; Coda.