Bloody Poetry

by Howard Brenton

Bloody Poetry


At a glance:

The Play

Bloody Poetry opens with Percy Bysshe Shelley poetically narrating his coach ride into the Swiss Alps, having fled England with his lover, Mary Godwin; their son, William; and Mary’s stepsister, Claire Clairemont. They have been forced into exile because at home they were considered “atheistical perverts” and “free-lovers.” Indeed, Claire has been Lord Byron’s lover, and she has arranged for that poet to meet Shelley for the first time, on the shore of Lake Geneva.

The next day, Bysshe, Mary, and Claire walk on the beach, waiting for Byron to...

(The entire page is 3044 words.)

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