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 ‘Shelley is revolutionary in the true sense.’ Explain with examples of his poems.

Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822) was a radical thinker from an aristocratic background, much like Lord Byron. However, while Byron enjoyed society’s approval before his exile, Shelley was more of an outsider from a young age. At school in Eton, he was already seen as a revolutionary thinker. Shelley believed in ideas like vegetarianism, pacifism, and free love, rejecting the institution of marriage because he thought it oppressed women. Interestingly, his father-in-law, William Godwin, shared similar views. Both Shelley and Godwin believed that human beings were capable of becoming perfect through reason.

Shelley was expelled from Oxford for his challenge to religious authority, specifically for questioning the existence of God. He also became known for his personal life, as he eloped with two different teenage girls in two years. The second was Mary, the daughter of Godwin and Mary Wollstonecraft, who would later become famous for writing Frankenstein. Mary Shelley later described her husband’s belief that humans could rid themselves of evil through self-improvement.

When Percy Shelley died in Italy, his body washed up on shore with a copy of John Keats’ poetry in his pocket. After his death, Shelley came to represent the idea of the Romantic poet who suffers for his ideals. Much of his poetry was published after his death.

Wordsworth's comment on Shelley highlights Shelley's mastery of style, referring to him as one of the best artists among poets, specifically in terms of his craftsmanship. Shelley was a versatile writer who explored various forms, including revolutionary satire, philosophical visions, and sophisticated verse letters. Despite this range, later generations have favored his lyrical poetry over his more politically and philosophically radical works. For instance, his poems like Men of England and England in 1819 contained strong social and political critiques, but these were often overshadowed by his more famous lyrical works.

The dominance of Romantic nature poetry in schools has also contributed to a narrow perception of Romantic poets like Wordsworth and Shelley. People often associate Wordsworth only with nature, especially his famous poem about dancing with daffodils, even though his body of work is more complex. Likewise, Shelley is often remembered for his lighter lyrical poems, like the famous line from To a Skylark, "Hail to thee, blithe Spirit!" However, Shelley was also capable of sharp critiques, as seen in his mocking of Wordsworth in Peter Bell the Third. Here, he ridicules Wordsworth’s lack of imagination, likening it to being confined to the narrow perspective of a "pint-pot."

In addition to his critical satire, Shelley wrote deeply personal verse letters to people like Byron, Maria Gisborne, and Jane Williams. These letters, while subtle, reflect another side of his poetic talent. However, Shelley's major achievements are often considered to be in his longer philosophical works. Poems such as Mont Blanc, Prometheus Unbound, and The Triumph of Life showcase his intellectual depth and engagement with complex ideas. His pastoral elegy Adonais, written in honor of the poet John Keats, and lyrical works like When the Lamp is Shattered, and the Choruses from Hellas are also highly regarded for their emotional intensity and philosophical insight.

Shelley’s legacy extends beyond his lyrical poetry. His body of work includes significant philosophical and political poems that reflect his wide-ranging imagination and engagement with societal issues, even though these contributions are sometimes overshadowed by his more famous lyrical works.

Shelley was a wide-ranging reader, interested in both abstract ideas (like Forms and Ideas) and practical science. Initially, he believed in revolutionary ideas, as shown in his poem The Masque of Anarchy, where Hope walks calmly through a scene of violence. However, over time, he became skeptical of such ideals.

Shelley, who didn't believe in God, created his own myths in works like Prometheus Unbound. This play continues the ancient Greek story where Prometheus, who can see the future, is punished by Zeus (Jupiter). In Shelley's version, Prometheus is a hero with qualities Shelley admired in Satan from Milton's Paradise Lost. A great cosmic event frees Prometheus, and the play ends with predictions about humanity's freedom. Though it includes beautiful sections, the story can be hard to understand.

One of Shelley's more powerful works is The Triumph of Life, which presents dark, apocalyptic visions, though he never finished it before his death.

Percy Bysshe Shelley's poetic philosophy, particularly his view that language is inherently limited in capturing transcendent or ultimate truths. Critics who find Shelley's work insubstantial may be overlooking his commitment to Platonic ideals—the belief that the physical world is a mere shadow of higher realities and that human language struggles to express those ineffable truths. Instead, Shelley uses the power of music, imagery, and rhetoric to suggest the elusive nature of these deeper realities.

The stanza from Adonais captures this theme of transformation and impermanence ("The one remains, the many change and pass"), contrasting fleeting earthly experiences with the eternal ("Heaven's light forever shines, Earth's shadows fly"). The metaphor of life as a "dome of many-coloured glass" that "stains the white radiance of Eternity" reflects Shelley's notion that human perception, influenced by the complexities and illusions of the material world, obscures ultimate truth. Only death, in his view, allows one to fully grasp or be united with the transcendent, as indicated by the imperative to "Die, if thou wouldst be with that which thou dost seek!"

In Shelley's vision, while the "azure sky, Flowers, ruins, statues, music, words" all attempt to capture beauty or truth, they ultimately fall short of conveying the pure, eternal realities that lie beyond human comprehension. Thus, Shelley's work resonates with the philosophical belief that language is an inadequate tool for expressing the fullness of the divine or the eternal.

Percy Bysshe Shelley's "Defence of Poetry," he passionately argues that poetry plays a vital role in developing love and imagination, which are essential for moral feelings. This work was a response to his friend Thomas Love Peacock's ironic essay, "The Four Ages of Poetry," which claimed that poetry had declined since the 18th century and that modern poets focused too much on the past rather than advancing knowledge.

Peacock suggested that while historians and philosophers contribute to progress, poets were stuck in outdated themes, using examples of poets like Sir Walter Scott and Lord Byron, who wrote about old legends and historical figures. Shelley, in contrast, combined the ideas of earlier thinkers like Sir Philip Sidney with the enthusiasm of William Wordsworth, arguing that poets shape society's values, famously stating that "Poets are the unacknowledged legislators of the World."

Despite Shelley's significant ideas, his work was not widely recognized until it was published in 1840. In contrast, the influential philosopher Jeremy Bentham dismissed poetry as trivial and unnecessary, famously noting that poetry's lines can vary in length, unlike prose, which is more straightforward. This highlights the tension between those who see poetry as a powerful art form and those who view it as less important than other forms of knowledge.

References 

WWW.Wikipedia,com