The Witch of Atlas is a major poetic work of the English romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley written in 1820 and published posthumously in 1824. The poem was written in 78 ottava rima stanzas during the period when Prometheus Unbound and The Cloud were written and reflects similar themes. The theme of the poem is a quest for the perfect union.The plot of The Witch of Atlas revolves around the travels and adventures of a mysterious and mythical Witch who lives in a cave on Atlas' mountain by a secret fountain and who creates a hermaphrodite "by strange art" kneading together fire and snow, a creature, Hermaphroditus, "a sexless thing", with both male and female characteristics, with pinions, or wings. A "fair Shape out of her hands did flow" because "all things together grow/ Through which the harmony of love can pass."