Percy B Shelley

Quasae Cole

Professor Camarasana

El 3810

3/1/10

When one thinks of Romantic poetry, six specific names come to mind; William Blake, William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Lord Byron, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and John Keats. Specifically, these poets have majorly impacted individuals of the Romantic time period as well as present day and have been acknowledged as well deserved perceivers of romantic notion: “an individualistic, inspired seer revealing his inmost thoughts in a spontaneous upwelling of emotion.”(Appelbaum pg iii) Dealing with history from an emotional stance, the fight, struggle, and hope was recognized in these poets intriguing stanzas. Their views were set separately from the late 18th century and early 19th century oppressors usually confiding in nature, the importance of childhood, or the focus on common people and common experiences. Particularly this is evident in Percy Bysshe Shelley’s works “Ozymandias”, “Sonnet: England in 1819” “Song to the Men of England” and “Stanzas”. In his creative visionary works, there is a strong emphasis on emotional and personal experience related to a weakness for the common people.

Percy Bysshe Shelley’s works implemented a common grievance for the working class and liberation for change of Roman influence. They were “deeply felt” and “enriched the language’s poetic armory immeasurably with original meters and stanzas; made sensitivity and ecstasy the keynotes of his worldview…embodied the spirit of healthy revolt against the fetters of government and society.” (Applebaum pg iv) In reading his poetry, I feel the hate, the concern and the pain that has been embodied but one may wonder how has society directly impacted Shelley and what role did he believe he played in this deep association to a struggle of the common people. In 1821, Percy Bysshe Shelley wrote “A Defence of Poetry”. In it, he explains his motivation and inspiration saying that “It is impossible to read the compositions of the...