Ode to Mary

After viewing my life from another perspective—a view created by Daisy Hay’s Young Romantics—I have come to realize that I, Percy Bysshe Shelley, have left many things unsaid to my brilliant wife, Mary. Because my life ended so drastically and much too soon, I fear that Mary and I parted ways with many unresolved issues. In short, the deep connection with my wife that was essential to my well-being was momentarily bent when I left her. I want to take this opportunity to express what I should have expressed during my time on earth:

Dear Mary,

There is no doubt that my love for you is immersed in the depths of my soul; anyone who knows us would say the same. You are my one true love, my other half, more than my equal. Whether inspiring, supporting, or promoting my work, I am forever indebted to your intellect, imagination, and genuine devotion. I am certain that without you, my work would not have been so admired. I know I have reciprocated such affection and care to your spirit and work, but during the times when you needed me most, I was more concerned with my own self—my work, my friendships, other female attention, etc. For this, I am truly sorry; no amount of immaturity or false idealism can account for such selfish behavior, particularly when you, my wife and soul, were experiencing such despair at the loss of our three young children, one right after the other. Instead of patiently comforting you during your understandable melancholy, I sometimes believed you were wearing me away, and were being selfish yourself. Perhaps I was ill equipped to help you, but I still could have made you my main priority, as you did me. Upon reflection, you, as a mere teenager, handled yourself quite well, considering the awful pain you must have had to bear as a mother. It severely pains me that directly after my unfortunate death, you worried that you should have been a better wife or a more loyal champion of my work, as others have since suggested. I know now that you were grieving in your own way, and such behavior is only natural. Regardless, as your loving counterpart, please understand that you and all who you are, including your supposed coldness and melancholic ways, make me whole as an individual. We are the ultimate team, so when one claims Shelley, they claim Percy and Mary, not one or the other.

I am, forever yours,
Shelley