he custody of his own children on the ground
that Shelley's professed opinions and conduct were such as the law
pronounced immoral. Shelley replied with his famous poetical curse "To the
Lord Chancellor." While the poem stands as a masterpiece of lyric invective
it did not mend matters for Shelley in England. In many of his other poems
his detractors saw nothing but the glorification of revolution, incest, and
atheism. When he wrote a satirical drama on so delicate a subject as the
unhappy affairs of Queen Caroline, even his publisher turned against him.
Yet the charm and beauty of Shelley's purely lyric pieces was such that he
must ever stand as one of the foremost poets of England. Either his
"Adonais" or the beautiful "Ode to the West Wind," would alone have
perpetuated his name in English letters. One of Shelley's most exquisite
pieces, written shortly before his death, has come to stand as the poet's
own threnody:

"When the lamp is shattered
The light in the dust lies dead--
When the cloud is scattered
The rainbow's glory is shed.
When the lute is broken,
Sweet tones are remembered not;
When the lips have spoken,
Loved accents are soon forgot.

As music and splendor
Survive not the lamp and the lute,
The heart's echoes render
No song when the spirit is mute,
No song but sad dirges,
Like the wind through a ruined cell,
Or the mournful surges
That ring the dead seaman's knell."

[Sidenote: Revival of letters]

[Sidenote: Golden age of music]

During this same year Thomas de Quincey published his "Confessions of an
Opium Eater," a masterpiece of balanced prose. In other parts of the world,
likewise, it was a golden period for literature. In France, Victor Hugo
published his "Odes et Poesies Diverses," a collection of early poems which
contained some of his most charming pieces. The rising Swedish poet,
Tegner, brought out his "Children of the Last Supper." In Germany, Heinrich
Heine, then still a student at Bonn, issued his earliest verses. For
Germany this was no less a golden age of music. Beethoven, though quite
deaf, was still the greatest of living composers. His great Choral
Symphony, the ninth in D minor, was produced during this year, as was his
Solemn Mass in D major. As a virtuoso he was rivalled by Hummel, who at
this time gave to the world his famous Septet, accepted by himself as his
masterwork. Two other German composers so distinguished themse