P.B.Shelley

P.B. Shelley as a Romantic poet:



P.B.Shelley

Introduction :                                             

Percy Bysshe Shelley  (1792-1822) was born in   Sussex. He was educated at Eton and Oxford.  Shelley started as a rebel and maintained this reputation throughout his short life. He was dismissed from Oxford for publishing the pamphlet The Necessity of Atheism (1811). He also rejected religious and moral sanctions of the society of his time. He was deeply inspired by radical ideologies – under the influence of William Godwin, whose daughter (the author of the early science-fiction novel Frankenstein) Shelley eventually married – and the idea of political revolution. 

               "The most beautiful things in the world are those that are most useless; peacocks and lilies for instance." This quote reflects his belief in the value of beauty and art for their own sake.

His literary works:

               Shelley’s earliest effort of any note is Queen Mab (1813). Alastor, or The Spirit of Solitude (1816) followed. It is a kind of spiritual autobiography. After this came Laon and Cythna (1817). Then Shelley left for Italy. The first fruits of his new life were apparent in Prometheus Unbound (1818-19, published in 1820). This wonderful production is a combination of the lyric and the drama. The story is that of Prometheus, who defied the gods and suffered for his presumption. There is a small proportion of narrative in blank verse, but the chief feature of the poem is the series of lyrics that both sustain and embellish the action.

              Among the longer ones are Julian and Maddalo (1818) and The Masque of Anarchy (1819, published 1832) reflects his views of the monarchy and authoritarian rule in England. The latter, inspired by the news of the massacre of Peterloo, expresses Shelley's revolutionary political views, and is very severe on Lord Castlereagh. 

              In The Witch of Atlas (1820, published 1824) and Epipsychidion (1821) Shelley rises further and further into the atmosphere of poetical imagination, until he becomes almost impossible of comprehension. 


Adonais

                 “Adonais” (1821) is a lament for the death of Keats modelled on the classical elegy. Though there is a loud note in the attack on the critics, whom Shelley held to be responsible for the poet's early death, the Spenserian stanza is here used with a splendid tone and a force which increases as the poem progresses. It glows with some of the most splendid of Shelley's conceptions.


To a Skylark

                   With the longer poems he also wrote some shorter lyrical pieces. “To a Skylark” and “The Cloud” are among them; so are some exquisite songs, such as “The Indian Serenade”, “Music”, “When soft voices die”, “On a Faded Violet”, “To Night” and the longer occasional pieces—for example, “Lines written among the Euganean Hills”, and the “Letter to Maria Gisborne”. Of his many beautiful odes, the most remarkable is “Ode to the West Wind”. The last line of the poem gives the reader a sense of hope towards the future:

“If winter comes, can spring be far behind?”

Conclusion:

             Percy Bysshe Shelley is a key figure in English Romantic poetry, known for his unique language and exploration of big ideas like nature, freedom, and human emotions. His poems challenge societal norms and advocate for personal and political change, showing his belief in the power of art to transform the world. Shelley’s legacy lives on through his beautiful poetry and his hope for a more compassionate society, inspiring many writers and thinkers. His combination of beauty and bold ideas makes him an important voice in literature.

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