Percy Bysshe Shelley
After reading the bio information on Shelley I thought I was going to be in for a real treat. In our text book his called “one of the most radically visionary of the Romantics” and he seemed to be quite the risk taker. He was expelled from Oxford for a pamphlet he assisted in writing with a friend on atheism. Later in his life, which was riddled with scandal and misfortune, he was even denied custody of his children because of a piece he wrote, Prometheus Unbound. Shelley lived a short life, but it was filled with more than enough activity for during the years he was alive.
Looking at Shelley’s “Hymn to Intellectual Beauty” I ended up with some mixed emotions. At first I felt like he was trying to propose rhetorical questions about the “Spirit of Beauty” and why mankind focused so much on “love and hate, despondency and hope” because there was more to life, but I didn’t that way towards the end of it. Typically, I expect most writings to push toward getting closer to God unless the author was known for having religious beliefs where God wasn’t the Alpha and Omega of life. Then I remembered Shelley’s being expelled for the pamphlet. In the third stanza he writes…
…Frail spells—whose uttered charm might not avail to sever/
From all we hear and all we see,
Doubt, chance, and mutability
Which I interpreted as him speaking on prayer. It seems that Shelley is saying the “frail spells” (prayer) might not be worth anything in long run and it seems like he is trying the power/might of God. I may just be reacting to the piece to personally, but I didn’t find his work all that great. Besides the content being disturbing, I didn’t feel it was written well either.
2 comments:
LaDonna,
Good focus on and exploration of Shelley's "Hymn to Intellectual Beauty." Much better follow up in your discussion of the passage you quote than in your previous post.
I can see why you did not take to shelley so much with being a Christian it is kind of hard to view it without being offended. I found the work one of my favorites because of its discusions against religion. I also consider my self a Christian but am open to hearing anything. So, on one hand my religious side is saying this is garbage where as my free side is saying it is one of the more better works.
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