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Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, born Mary Godwin on August 30, 1797, in London, England, was a Romantic-era writer best known for her novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus (Lackington, Hughes, Harding, Mavor & Jones, 1818), often credited as the first true science- fiction novel. In addition to producing her own literary works, Shelley was instrumental in publishing the works of her late husband, Percy Bysshe Shelley. She died on February 1, 1851, in London.
William Wordsworth, who rallied for “common speech” within poems and argued against the poetic biases of the period, wrote some of the most influential poetry in Western literature, including his most famous work, The Prelude, which is often considered to be the crowning achievement of English romanticism.
William Butler Yeats, widely considered one of the greatest poets of the English language, received the 1923 Nobel Prize for Literature. His work was greatly influenced by the heritage and politics of Ireland.
Born in 1809, Edgar Allan Poe had a profound impact on American and international literature as an editor, poet, and critic.
William Blake was born in London on November 28, 1757, to James, a hosier, and Catherine Blake. Two of his six siblings died in infancy.