Percey Bysshe Shelley Flashcards
(14 cards)
Who was Shelley?
Second generation romantic poet
What romantic traits does the poem show?
Melancholy
Nature
Death
Freedom
What was the gothic influence in the cold earth slept below?
Dark imagery
Bleak winter
Themes of mourning
When was the cold earth written?
Shortly after the death of Shelley’s first child with Mary Godwin
What may the cold earth reflect?
Emotional aftermath of their child’s death
What influenced stanzas written in dejection in Naples?
Death, Mary’s youngest sister who Byron believed was in love with her, his first wife Harriet and and Mary’s child, Clara’s death whilst travelling in Italy
What was poetry like in the 1700s
Thinkers like Voltaire and Denis Diderot stressed the importance of reason and rationality which early romantics saw at limiting. Shelley hoped to restore romanticism to its earlier revolutionary possibilities
How is Ode to a west wind iconic of an ode?
Ancient poet Pindar composed poems to praise the powerful and important people Shelley praises the destructive power of the wind rather than the wind
Why does Shelley advocate for destruction?
Only way to pave the way for something better as the conservative Victorian Era approach in 1819
What were Shelley’s radical views?
Abolishing slavery, non violent protest to resist unjust power structures
Independence of Ireland from England
Why was it difficult to be radical during this time
By 1819 King of France Louis 18 had been reinstated
Contrast of earlier enlightenment era writers to Shelley
Alexander pope and Jonathan swift aspired to elegant phrasing and satirical wit whereas Shelley wrote passionate verse that valued mysteries and imagination over crisp rationality
What does the question essentially explore
Finding solace in the wonder and beauty of the natural world
What is the question
A reminder that poets have a morally responsibility to connect to audiences who may be molded by their work
