Byron's Conversation with Shelley

Hands analyzes the mutual influence of Byron and Shelley's writings. He notes that their works were more subtle and more complex than any comparison of texts can suggest, for their qualities of mind and temper, as in most true friendships, were not similar, but complementary. In comparison, their works does reveal how complementary they were. Byron's aloof skepticism was always the more insistent; and he sometimes lamented how Shelley's attitudes held him back.