Outlines of English and American Literature The Revolutionary Poets byLong, William J.
The above title is often applied to Byron and Shelley, and for two reasons,
because they were themselves rebellious of heart, and because they voiced
the rebellion of numerous other young enthusiasts who, disappointed by the
failure of the French Revolution to bring in the promised age of happiness,
were ready to cry out against the existing humdrum order of society. Both
poets were sadly lacking in mental or moral balance, and finding no chance
in England to wage heroic Warfare against political tyranny, as the French
had done, they proceeded in rather head long fashion to an attack on well
established customs in society, and especially did they strike out wildly
against "the monster Public Opinion." Because the "monster" was stronger
than they were, and more nearly right, their rebellion ended in tragedy.