After reading Shelley's biography I was very interested to read some of his poems. His lifestyle was quite funny to read about, especially in the early 1800s!!! In todays standards he may be considered a little extreme, so I could not imagine how people must have talked about him back then!
To a Sky-Lark:
This poem is about a sky-lark which Shelley finds beautiful and seems to have found inspiration from. He finds the inspiration for his poetry from this bird. Since Shelley was a well known radical he is wanting to let people know here that you can teach through poetry and you can englighten people about the world. Shelley spent most of his life writing radical things and this is his way of saying you can teach people through poetry. He is using the birds beauty to speak about a poet writing. He uses comparisons of the bird such as "Like a poet hidden/ In the light of though/ Singing humns unbidden/ Till the world is wrought/ To sympathy with hopes and fears it heeded not:" lines 36-40. What he is saying here is that his poetry is englightening people in the world by pointing out what is going on. He uses sympathy and fear to get a reaction from these people. Shelley also points out that the bird is free from having to feel these pains and from experiencing the pain from love. He says "With they clear keen joyance/ Langour cannot be:/ Shadow of annoyance/ Never came near thee" He seems to be almost jealous of the bird for not experiencing these things. He also says, "Teach us, Sprite, or Bird/ What seet thought are thine" Lines 61-62. He wants to be like the bird and not have to deal with all the injustices he finds in the world. Then at the end of this poem is says "Teach me half the gladness/ That thy brain must know/ Such harmonious madness/ From my lips would flow/ The world should listen then-as I am listening now" Lines 101-105. He feels that the skylark has reached the ultimate level of joy and happiness and he wishes that he also could find such happiness. Shelley things that if he could learn just a little from the bird and could write such beautiful poetry that people would listen simply because it was so beautiful.
Ozymandias:
I chose to include this poem in my blog because I enjoyed it.
This poem is about an empire and a ruler who no longer have power. Shelley is pointing out that even the strongest of tyrants do not last in power forever. He points out how these things do not last by saying "Two vast and trunkless legs of stone/Stand in the desart....Near them on the sand" lines 2-3. This is referring to a statue of the king which was broken up and fallen in the sand. He says that the sculptor put a lot of passion into making these statues, but now they are just broken in the sand. I believe he is mocking the king when he includes the line "And on the pedestal, these words appear: / My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings/ Look on my worlds, ye Mighty, and despair" Lines 9-11. He is pointing out that the Kings pedistal where this was written is broken up and on the ground. The king had this made to let everyone know of his power and now that power is gone. I just thought this poem was interesting because he is pointing out that the king has lost everything including the empire that existed. Also you can see how this happens throughout history with all the great empires, such as the Roman empire.
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2 comments:
I also chose to write about "Ozymandias." I liked the poem for many of the same reasons. I think Shelley's overall goal was to prove that everything in this life is fleeting and that you cannot make anything last forever. You may be the poorest or richest man that ever lived and your destiny is the same--death.
This poem also makes me wonder why so many people, of the past and of today, try so hard to be better than everyone else. They spend the majority of their lives proving themselves--making money and seeking positions in the working world that will not matter after they die. I guess in my life, it is important to be successful, but it is not the most important thing. My family comes first and always will. Too bad Ozymandias did not have the same values--he might have enjoyed his life a bit more.
Jenny,
OK blog on Percy Shelley. I like the way you limit your focus to two of his poems, and the way you make an effort to quote specific examples to discuss. In the first poem you analyze, though, I think it would have been preferable to talk about fewer passages, and to analyze them in greater depth and and at greater length. Your comments are often only a single sentence or so, but that often doesn't seem quite sufficient to explain fully some of the passages. For instance, in the quotation that begins "Like a poet hidden," you don't mention the significance of that last word; I think it is very important, though, because it suggests that Shelley did not feel he was reaching an audience, but was pretty much ignored by the public. Here he compares himself to the bird that sings at a high altitude, and is invisible, but nevertheless makes an impact on the listener. Also, it would be helpful to have more context for the quotations you discuss.
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