Percy Bysshe Shelley

Percy Bysshe Shelly was an English Romantic poet. He is widely known as one of the best philosophical and lyrical poets in the English language. Shelly was also among the many poets and writers who could not see fame and recognition in his lifetime. After his death, he gained recognition for his social views and radical poetry. He later became an important member of a close circle of the visionary writers and poets that include John Keats, Leigh Hunt,  Lord Byron, Leigh Hunt, Mary Shelly, and Thomas Love Peacock.

Shelley has written one of the best classical poems that include “Ode to the West Wind,” “Ozymandias,” “When Soft Voice Die,” “The Masque of Anarchy,” “The Cloud,” and “Music.” He also wrote a groundbreaking drama, The Cenci in 1819, long philosophical and visionary work Queen Mab, Prometheus Unbound, The Revolt of Islam, and Hellas, A Lyrical Drama.

William Godwin and Leigh Hunt were one of Shelly’s close friends. Shelley wrote his poetry throughout his life, the journals and published refused to publish his work in fear of being arrested for sedation or blasphemy. In his lifetime, the reading of his poetry was confined to certain people. However, after his death, his poetic achievements were recognized.

His social and political thoughts had led to various movements in England, like the Chartist Movement. His economic theories and morality theories had influenced a larger number of people, including Karl Marx. His writings on nonviolent resistance greatly influenced American writer Leo Tolstoy. The writing of Leo Tolstoy in return influenced Mahatma Gandhi, and then Martin Luther King Jr.

Shelly became a model for the poets and writers for succeeding three or four generations. He also influenced the Pre-Raphaelites and Victorian poets such as Dante Gabriel Rossetti and Robert Browning. His works had been greatly admired by Thomas Hardy, Oscar Wilde, George Bernard Shaw, Bertrand Russell, Leo Tolstoy, Yeats, Isadora Duncan, and Upton Sinclair.

Civil Disobedience, published in 1849 by Henry David Thoreau, shows the influence of theories and writing of nonviolence in political actions and protests by Shelley. The influence and popularity of Shelly continue to grow in the modern world.  

A Short Biography of Percy Bysshe Shelley

Percy Bysshe Shelly was born in Sussex on 4rh August 1792. His father was a parliamentarian. Shelley attended Eton and Oxford University. He started reading revolutionary writers such as Tom Paine and William Godwin at university. Shelly contributed an essay to a pamphlet supporting atheism. For this reason, he was expelled from the university in 1811.

Shelley then eloped with Harriet Westbrook – a 16-years-old girl to Scotland. They married, which resulted in a scandal. Due to the scandal, a serious gap between Shelly and his family occurred. Shelley published his first work in 1813, titled as Queen Mab. He dedicated this poem to his wife. It was republished in 1816 under the title The Daemons of the World.

Shelly and Harriet gave birth to two children. However, they soon got separated. In 1814, Shelly fell in love with the daughter of William Godwin and Mary Wollstonecraft, Mary – a 16 years old girl. They soon married in 1816, two weeks after his first wife drowned herself. They traveled to Europe. In 1816, they spent the summer at Lake Geneva with Lord Byron. It was in Lake Geneva that Mary conceived the idea of writing Frankenstein, and Shelly wrote poetry.

In 1818, Shelley shifted to Italy with his family but could not settle in one place. They moved from one city to another. In the meantime, two children of Shelly died, and Mary Shelly also suffered from a mental breakdown. Regardless of problems in personal life, these years in Shelly’s life were the most productive one. Keats wrote masterpiece poems Prometheus Unbound and Adonais inspired by the death of John Keats.

Shelly eventually settled in 1822 on the bay of Lerici on the Italian coast.  On 8th July 1822, Shelly was returning home after visiting his friends James Leigh Hunt and Lord Byron that he was drowned by the overturning of the boat. 

Shelly was a major figure among the English Romantic poets. He lived an unconventional life and died at a tragically young age.

Percy Bysshe Shelley’s Writing Style

The romantic era is known for its artistic, musical, literary, and intellectual movements that started in Europe at the end of the 18th century. The poetry of the romantic era is the reaction against the prevailing ideas of Enlightenment. Romantic poetry is a product of sentiments, emotions, and feelings. Percy Bysshe Shelly is one of the leading romantic poets.

The poetic style of Shelley resembles the style of Romantic poets. To very extend, Shelly has imitated the style of William Wordsworth. Shelly employed powerful imagery and symbolism in his poetry. His imagery is most often visual. He also employed similes and metaphors in abundance. For example, in the poem “To the Skylark,” he employed a series of similes, marvelous similes.

The diction employed by Shelly is tactile and lush. However, he never used ornamental words. Every word is placed in a suitable place, and it carries its significance. By the use of extraordinary diction, Shelly expressed his versatile feelings. The note of music employed by Shelley is very appealing to the listeners. Shelley employed the meter of terza rima in his poem “Ode to the West Wind.” This meter is used in its finest way in the poem.

Elements of imagination, nature, supernaturalism, melancholy, beauty, Hellenism, lyricism, subjectivity, idealism, and many more are found in the poetry of Shelley. The following are the distinguishing features of the poetry of Shelley.

Lyricism

The reading of Shelley’s poem is proof of why he is considered as one of the utmost geniuses of lyrical poetry in the English Language. The poems of Shelly are known for their intensity of emotions and feelings, momentarily and passionate impulses, and spontaneity. His lyrics appear to be composed effortlessly. His lyrics are melodious and sweet as the song of the skylark. The peaceful, smooth, and graceful spontaneity in Shelley’s poetry can be illustrated in the following lines from his poem “To a Skylark.”

“Teach me half the gladness.

That thy brain must know,

Such harmonious madness

From my lips would flow.

The world should listen to thee-as! am listening

now.”

The lyricism of Shelly was unique. According to Charles Morgan, the unique instrument of Shelly was his lyricism. Even Shakespeare cannot parallel Shelly in lyrical qualities. Shelley has not written his lyrics; instead, they have been burst from the sunshine, the windbreak, and the air. His lyrics give a sense of penetrating rupture to its listener. In reality, this sense is given by love and Nature but never by any device like poetry.

The careful choice of words that Shelley employed in his writing also adds to the musicality of his poetry. The rhythm and musicality of his poetry are smooth, impulsive, solemn, and joyous. It is employed according to the nature of emotions expressed in the poetry. For example, in the “Ode to the West Wind,” Shelly’s lyrics appear to be in perfect harmony with the smooth, stormy march of the wind:

“O wild West Wind, thou breath of Autumn’s being,

Thou, from whose unseen presence the leaves dead

Are driven, like ghosts from an enchanter fleeing,

Yellow, and black, and pale, and hectic red,

Pestilence-stricken multitudes: O thou,

Who chariotest to their dark wintry bed”

His poem “To a Skylark ” appears not to be his poem, but a song of Skylark translated in stanzas. Certainly, the first four lines of the stanza correspond to the increase of the song of the bird. In the poem “The Cloud,” the rhythm that Shelley creates reflects the movement of the clouds rushing across the sky. Shelly wonderfully blends the sense and versification. This blending is the utmost musical quality of Shelly’s poetry.

The greatest skill Shelley has is his lyricism. He is even regarded as the prince of English lyricism. With his involuntary art, personal appeal, musical beauty, and spontaneity makes his lyrics unsurpassable and touches the heart of the listeners.

Note of Longing/Yearning

In the poetry of Shelly, there is a thoughtful note of longing or yearning for the unreachable and unattainable desires. In his poetry, Shelly appears to be haunted by the Eternal Mind. He constantly chases the impalpable and invisible things and attempts to look beyond the wretchedness of life. In his poem “To—,” he writes about the desire of a moth for star (light), the desire of the night for the morning, the desire to devote something that is far away from the world for sorrow. 

Shelley also assigned various names to this unattainable thing in the poem. Similarly, in the poem, “Hymn To Intellectual Beauty,” he describes this unattainable thing as a spirit of beauty. He calls it “unseen power” that resides in the hearts of humans. It resides in the form of “awful Loveliness” that can help to liberate the world from oppression and tyranny.

Skylark is Shelly’s poetic bird. It is not merely a bird, but he employed the symbol of the bird as an embodiment of his ideals though Shelley can hear it but cannot see it. Canadian comments on the tone of Shelley’s poetry show that it shows keen aspiration and is filled with the spiritual ruptures, and anguished pangs. Moreover, it also surpasses the suffering and joys of ordinary humans. 

Idealism is Shelley’s Poetry

The poetry of Shelley is characterized by the striking note of idealism. Idealism, in his poetry, is stimulated from the enthusiasm of reform. In his poetry, he appears to have a prophetic voice because of employing idealism. In his poetry, he asserts that this desolate and imperfect world must be transformed into the land of love, blessing, freedom, and complete joy. He enthusiastically expresses his belief that one day, his poetry would transform the world.

His poetry is filled with the note and feeling of escapism. It is this quality escapism that makes him unmistaken romantic. He is urged by his pensive urgency to fly away from this world full of miseries and hatred to the place where the miseries and pains of this world will not haunt him. In his poem, “To the Skylark,” He praises the ability of the Skylark for scorning the ground and desires that he could also fly to heaven. Similarly, in “Ode to the West Wind,” he asks the west wind to uplift him from the “thorns of life.”

Platonism or Hellenism

Shelley is greatly influenced by ancient Greece and has a deep interest in its imagery. His poetry is evidence for his eagerness for the wisdom of the philosopher of Greece. Shelley appears to be greatly influenced by Plato.

Like Plato, Shelley treats human life and natural objects and poor copy of an ideal form in his poetry. This makes Shelley appreciate natural objects with sharper insight. He also exercises the theory that poets and artists must unveil the worldly cover from the natural objects and reveal the underlying ideal model.

The concepts of Platonism appeals to Shelly because it provides him with the guiding principles underlying the ideal forms. He starts following Platonism since he begins to write poetry, and when he starts to define the “unseen power” underlying the ideal forms of natural objects. In his later poetry, the notion of guiding power appears in the diverse form with the strong characteristic of pantheism. Shelley elaborates on his Platonism in his poem Adonais. He writes:

“The One remains, the many change and pass;

Heaven’s light for ever shines, Earth’s shadows fly,

Life like a dome of many-coloured glass,

Stains the white radiance of Eternity,

Until Death tramples it to fragments.”

Critics describe this stanza as the finest concise expression of Platonism in the poetry of the English language. In his concepts of nature, Shelly often turns into pantheism. He starts believing that nature manifests only one soul and that is indivisible. When the earthly existence ends, everything reunites with its soul. For example, in Adonais, Shelley describes the afterlife of Keats as a portion of loveliness that he once made more attractive. He also says that once the spirit from the dull and dense world sweeps, it moves to the other world with “All new successions to the forms they wear.”

Shelley also borrowed the ideas of love from Plato. Shelley, like Plato, sees love as a principle that rules over all things by extending through nature. It rules over both human and divine things. In the poem Adonais, Shelley describes love as the everlasting love which is like as web that is woven blindly by the man, earth, beast, sear and air. 

Like Plato, the notion of love for Shelly is not concerned with sexual passion. In the poem “One Word is Too Often Profaned,” he distinguishes his notion of love from the ordinary notion of love as:

“I can give not what men call love.”

Vagueness

Mathew Arnold criticizes Shelley’s poetry for its unsustainability. Arnold’s criticism is based on the same facts. The poetry of Shelley appears to be vague. Since Childhood, Shelley had been preoccupied with the visions. For example, in the poem “Hymn to Intellectual Beauty,” Shelley refers to the time of his boyhood when he would look at ghosts in a listening chamber, ruin, and cave.

He was never freed from visions in any part of his life. Shelley could not express his visions in the worldly images. So, Shelly flies higher and higher into finding symbols in the ethereal world to express his visions. The poetry that he composed in the ethereal world appears to be vague to the people of ordinary understanding. We are familiar with his Skylark, Cloud, and West Wind. However, in the poetry of Shelly, they have become the ethereal character and vague to be understood comprehensively. It is difficult to appreciate the poetry of Shelley without attaining his heights.

Melancholy and Optimism in Shelley’s Poems

In Shelley’s poetry, optimism and pessimism go parallel in the entire poetry. Whenever Shelley is expressing corruption, tyranny, and personal sufferings, his tone becomes extremely pessimistic. His poems “Stanza Written in Dejection,” “O Life!,” “O World!,” and “O Time!” are an illustration of his personal despondency and despair. For example in the poem “The Indian Serenade,” he writes

“O lift me from the grass!

I die! I faint! I Fail!”

In the line, Shelley’s cry of suffering arises from unaffected frustration and private anguishes.

Similarly, in the poem Adonais, Shelley describes himself as:

“He came the last, neglected and apart:

A herd-abandoned deer, struck by the hunter’s dart.”

In the poetry of Shelley, melancholy is dominant. However, Shelley also appears to be highly optimistic about the future of the world. He strongly believes that golden time is approaching that will ensure happiness. This happiness will replace all the tyranny, corruption, and slavery prevailing at this time. whatever, Sheley talks about the future in his poetry, he appears to be ecstatic with joy. His prophecy in “Ode to the West Wind” is the most optimistic line in his entire poetry. He ends the poem with the lines by addressing the west wind to drive him through the death thoughts that are prevailing in the universe; to sweep away him like the weathered leave to speed up the rebirth; and by the effect of his poetry provoke the dead hearts. Moreover, he says to the west wind to scatter the sparks and ashes from the unextinguished hearth; and through his words awaken the sleeping world. He calls the west wind as the trumpet of a prophecy and asks that is the rebirth (spring) far behind as winter has already come. 

Shelley’s poetry is distinguished with this unique characteristic of combining optimism and pessimism.

Nature

Shelley, like other Romantic poets, was a passionate lover of nature. For Shelley, nature is one spirit and the Supreme Power that works through all objects. In most of his poems, he celebrates nature. The main theme of most of the poems is nature. For example, his poems “To a Skylark,” “The Cloud,” “Ode to the West Wind,” “To the Moon,” and “A Dream of the Unknown” is based on nature.

He treats nature by describing things the way they appear in nature. He provides color to those objects and gives them human qualities through personification. For example, in his poem “Ode to the West Wind,” he personifies the west wind. He personifies the object to make it feel that they are capable of doing all those humanly work.

He also believes in the healing power of nature, which makes him a mythopoeic poet. One of the most attractive elements in Shelly’s poetry is his treatment of nature. Whatever Shelley writes, he takes inspiration from nature. He develops his new ideas from the forces and objects of nature. Though he takes ideas from nature, what makes these ideas attractive is the legendary treatment of these ideas, which only possible with Shelley. He does not only make inanimate objects lively by making them appear like a human. Shelly, through his poetry, shows love and a deep understanding of nature. 

Imagination

According to Shelley, poetry is the expression of imagination. He highly believes in the power of imagination as it brings diverse objects in harmony with each other. For Shelley, the function of imagination is to create shapes through which reality can be expressed to the world.

Lofty imagination and uncontrolled passion are the major qualities in Shelley’s poetry. His power of imagination and passion are present simultaneously in his poetry and finds a moving expression. He explores the world with his careful imagination. In his poetry, he brings together associations and impressions that indicate his ideals and aspirations. He puts his imagination in various colors that make his poetry sensuous and symbolic.

Supernaturalism in Shelley’s Works

Like other romantic poets, Shelley also employed supernatural elements in his poetry. He employed the images of ghosts and spirits in his poetry that indicates the possibility of another world other than ours. For example, in the poem “Hymn to Intellectual Beauty,” the speaker of the poem looks for the ghost and explains the presence of a ghost in another world besides the world of humans. Similarly, in the poem “Mont Blanc,” the speaker encounters shadows and ghosts of the real objects in the Cave of Poesy. 

In both poems, the ghosts are not something real. It emphasizes on the mystery and elusiveness of the supernatural forces.

Beauty

Another major element of Shelly’s poetry is beautiful. The notion of Beauty for Shelly is ideal. He calls the Beauty of nature as an “Intellectual beauty.” In his poems, he rejoices Beauty as a mysterious power. In his poem “Hymn to Intellectual Beauty,” he asserts that if “Intellectual Beauty ” is no longer present in this world, the world will become desolate and vacant within a vast vale of tears.

To conclude, the distinguishing qualities such as lyricism, the personification of inanimate objects, Platonism, and many other characteristics make P.B. Shelley is one of the renowned poets his age and of coming generations.