Composed in October 1819 during a flurry of poetic creativity, Shelley’s
Peter Bell the Thirdsatirises Wordsworth’s tale of a wayward potter, in
Peter Bell(published 22 April, 1819), who renounces his immoral life after a sequence of natural occurrences reveal to him the error of his old ways. On completion, Shelley sent his satirical verse to Leigh Hunt, on 2 November 1819, with the intention that
Peter Bell the Thirdwould be passed onto Charles Ollier for immediate, but anonymous, publication. In spite of Shelley’s efforts to persuade Ollier to print the poem,
Peter Bell the Thirdremained unpublished until its inclusion in Mary Shelley’s first one volume edition of Shelley’s poetry published after the poet’s death in 1839.
Prior to publication in 1819, the sermonizing
721 words
Citation: Sandy, Mark. "Peter Bell the Third". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 25 August 2004 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=2834, accessed 03 October 2024.]