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That he was a reprobate, a lout, and an amoral ass, who cared about little other than himself. He was the perfect example of the second generation of Romantic poets (the closest the Brits have had to a '60's Generation), and he work is generally considered far inferior to the first generation poets (Wordsworth, Blake, Coleridge, etc.), as it was both less inventive and less structured. You would have a hard time finding a professor of English Literature who would name him as the most important figure in English literature, and he probably wouldn't even be the first or second name mentioned for the Romantics.

He is, however, loved by the left (and the liberal college professors now infesting modern English departments) for his hedonism, rejection of authority, irresponsibility, and general avocation of narcissism. Heck, with his hand in the drowning of Shelley, you might consider him the Ted Kennedy of the Romantic period.

I suppose you'll quote Oscar Wilde on marriage and child-rearing next, right?

Of course, I tend to think that English poetry when down hill when it went from alliterating to rhyming, but that is an admittedly extreme opinion.