The Life of Percy Shelley
In the poems Men of England and Ozymandias, poet Percy Shelley portrays a theme of political activism and change through the romanticism style of the 1800s. Shelley was an aristocratic born, well-educated English man. However he deferred from the norm of a 1800s English man; not only did he conducted and act on his own beliefs, he decided he wanted to change the British government and social structure. Beginning his efforts with the Irish government and using the American and French revolutions as a guide he pushed his effort. Most of Shelley’s work is to provide political unrest, with the poems Song to the Men of England and Ozymandias.
Percy Shelley was born in Sussex, England, on August 4, 1792, to an aristocratic family. Shelley was a scholar, and family was able to afford schooling him. He went to college at oxford but was expelled in 1810 only after less than a year. He was expelled for publishing work on being an atheist. His whole life was turned upside down for being atheist. He married his cousin Harriet; together they conceived many children. He would travel a lot, and in 1814 Shelley officially abandoned his wife and children to continue radical politics with William Godwin. After a while Shelley fell in love with Godwin’s daughter Mary. They married in 1816 after Shelley’s first wife, Harriet, committed suicide. Percy Shelley of course wrote many more works about many different topics and basically in any place in Europe; for example according to the Poetry for Students reference book, “In Switzerland, Shelley wrote, 'Mont Blanc,’ a romantic meditation on history and existence, while Mary wrote the famous novel Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus. Moving to Italy, Shelley then wrote Prometheus Unbound, a recreation of a lost play by the ancient Greek dramatist Aeschylus”(Percy Shelley, Poetry for Students). Shelley and his wife both wrote about political unrest in different ways, causing both to move to Italy to be safe from the government. Outraged by the British Government, Shelley was moved with the cause of political reform; resulting in a string of poems and other writings criticizing and reforming the British ideals; “…Including The Mask of Anarchy, the sonnet 'England in 1819,’ and ‘Song to the Men of England,’ as well as the pamphlet The Philosophical View of Reform” (Percy Bysshe Shelley, Poetry Foundation). All of his works had to deal with political change. Also he was very inspired by John Keats. Shelley died when he was only twenty-nine years old in a boating accident off the coast of Tuscany. There is a conspiracy theory that he was assassinated by British agents. He was cremated but Mary kept his heart. He is now buried in Rome, and has a monument dedicated to him at Oxford University.
Romanticism began in the late eighteenth-century and lasted until the mid-nineteenth century. It was based off emotion, spiritual growth, nature, and honestly didn’t focus on reason. Romanticism came along in response to the enlightenment, focusing early romantics to reason and analysis. “Like all Romanticism, the English variety expressed profound respect for nature. As such, Romantic writers can be seen as forerunners of 20th- and 21st-century environmental activism”(Luft, Romanticism). Even after many years of romanticism being used it is still used to today. It has been seen in today’s use of environmental activism. It is possible to compare the two because romanticism deals with nature. Throughout the Romantic era there were two main movements, the Germans and the English; however the two were very different but one did influence the other, “English Romanticism had almost no influence on the German variety, but some of the figures in German Romanticism, notably the philosopher Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph von Schelling, influenced the later English Romantics through the works of poet and critic Samuel Taylor Coleridge”(Luft, Romanticism). Percy Shelley was very influenced by Coleridge, therefore many have seen a combination of English and German Romanticism. For over two hundred years romanticism has been widely popular, and its values and uses have continued throughout the world.
Shelley used romanticism for the joys and even the sadness; combining rebellion with nature, he talked about ideal real love and a spirit of freedom. All of these Shelley exemplified in the way he lived his life and live on in the substantial body of work that he left the world after his legendary death by drowning at age twenty-nine. While studying under Godwin, Shelley took his practices to heart; using the theory of “free love”, for example replacing Harriet’s love with Mary as his true. He did allow Harriet and his children to continue living with him, however he referred to her as his sister. “Shelley was deeply impressed with the power of the natural scenery, brought on by the combination of the lake and the surrounding mountains, especially Mont Blanc” (Percy Bysshe Shelley, Encyclopædia Britannica). Not only did he write poems but he wrote political pamphlets. Shelley was influenced by Rousseau, Pain, and Godwin with all their philosophies. For example Shelley took from Godwin that Romanticism equals free love; like when he left his wife Harriet and family for Mary. “He has left his peculiar stamp on Romanticism: the creation of powerful symbols in his visionary pursuit of the ideal, at the same time tempered by a deep skepticism. His thought is characterized by an insistence on taking the controversial side of issues, even at the risk of being unpopular and ridiculed” (Percy Bysshe Shelley, Poetry Foundation). With all of Shelley’s hard work and efforts he left a big mark on romanticism. Through his writing he created the style of using powerful symbols but also skepticism and being controversial.
In the poem, Song to the Men of England, Shelley is speaking to the hard working class of the British social structure. He wants them to begin to stand up for their rights. He believes they have been wronged by the aristocrats of the day. “Wherefore feed and clothe and save… From the cradle to the grave…Those ungrateful drones who would…Drain your sweat—nay, drink your blood?…Wherefore, Bees of England, forge…Many a weapon, chain, and scourge,…That these stingless drones may spoil…the forced produce of your toil” (Shelley, lines 5-13). These hard workers do unseeingly long work but get nothing in return. Shelley wants to explain to them by asking rhetorical questions about where their earnings go to and was it worth the cost. After he states this he begins to use a metaphor to take arms and fight for what they deserve. “The seed ye sow, another reaps;…The wealth ye find, another keeps;…The robes ye weave, another wears;…The arms ye forge, another bears…Sow seed—but let no tyrant reap:…Find wealth—let no imposter heap:…Weave robes—let not the idle wear:…Forge arms—in your defense to bear” (Shelley, lines 18-26). For their work the rich get the profits, if the poor finds some type of wealth or earning it all goes to taxes then to the rich. Shelley continues to repeat this concerning issue to rile up the audience. This poem by Percy Shelley clearly executes the political activism he wants. Obviously Shelley had issues with how England ran its government and treated the working class.
In Song to the Men of England Shelley presents metaphors, literary devices, and repetition into his breakthrough popular song, about the significant case for a social reform. Shelley’s social revolution is based on the greater mass of British society, who have been destroyed by the social class system. This mass of people are the lower classes, Shelley and many more revolutionists want equality and an overthrow of the class system. His most popular poem, Song to the Men of England, became an anthem for the lower classes. “It consists of eight stanzas, each of four lines. Each line is composed of four iambic feet. There are a large, but not unusual, proportion of substitutions of other feet for the iambs, as well as resolutions based on colloquial speech” (Song to the Men of England, Poetry for Students). Shelley wrote a simple poem with common rhyme scheme. The rhyme scheme is why Shelley and his audience agree it should be a song. “…the structure of the meter is highly conversational rather than formal. The beginning of each stanza takes on the form of a march. Each stanza has a simple AABB rhyme scheme where the first and second line rhyme, as do the third and fourth” (Song to the Men of England, Poetry for Students). Shelley was a typical poet with common use. The use of rhyme really kept the audience involved and therefore actually comprehended the message. Even though it was a well like song to the majority, Shelley was in a tough spot because many people criticized his values.
Shelley can be seen as a type of hypocrite with his writing. His audience is the poor working class while he was born into an aristocratic family. He talks about violence when a romanticist is generally nonviolent. As told by an unknown critic, referenced from the poetry for students; “That momentous historical upheaval from the previous generation dominated the thought of Shelley and his contemporaries about political change. The ideals of that movement closely matched the reforms Shelley wanted: economic and political equality of all classes or, if not complete equality, at least a fair distribution of freedom and wealth. However, starting with the execution of the French king as a political criminal, the revolution became tainted with blood” (Song to the Men of England, Poetry for Students). Shelley wanted what the French and Americans had done, however he didn't want anything to be violent. He should have known that any revolution is tainted with blood. “Although Shelley was an atheist and thought that Jesus' teachings had been misused by the Church and the aristocracy to justify their oppression of the masses throughout the centuries, he held Jesus himself in great respect as a political reformer” (Song to the Men of England, Poetry for Students). This goes back the previous notion that he is considered a hypocrite. He considered himself an atheist but he uses Christianity and Jesus for his morals in his writings. Percy Shelley wants to move the people to stand together; wanting to protect the citizens was his ultimate goal. Even with his critics; they all agree that.
Ozymandias is a poem about the destruction of a kingdom. It starts with a traveler who is told about a statue of the king Ozymandias that has fallen down and broken. “Stand in the desert … Near them, on the sand,…Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,…And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command…” (Shelley, lines 3-5). The legs standing in the sand of the desert; near the legs, continuing to be buried in the sand is the broken face of the magnificent statue. The head and the feet, body parts, separated at two opposite ends of the standing statue, are now destroyed and fairly closer to each other and a chaotic, inhuman, unintimidating image is formed. A frown, a wrinkled lip, a cold look is expressed on the broken face. “Tell that its sculptor well those passions read…Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless…things,…The hand that mocked them, and the heart that…fed” (Shelley, lines 6-8). The traveler tells the audience that theres a sense of passion from the sculptor of the statue, even when broken and lifeless. The traveler also notes the power of the King’s hand to mock, referring to the ability to give commands and kept all his subjects below him (referring to the height of the original statue). But even all powerful, the king is still human with a heart. Figuratively expressing that he cares for his people, feeding them ad keeping all well and alive. Ozymandias cared for his people as a good steward and to ensure that his rule over his subjects would continue as a favor to him. Below him lays a pedestal with an inscription from the king, communicating to the present and to the future; proving his pride and arrogance. It reads, "My name is Ozymandias, king of kings: / Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair” (Shelley, lines 10-11).
Shelley used metaphors and imagery of the broken kingdom to tell the British class system of what is about to happen without change. This magnificent statue represents the kingdoms and their kings of the past, effected by the ravages of their own failings. The description of the broken down statue and it's saying below reveals tremendous lost of pride and power. “Shelley succeeded in containing his expression within the confines of the sonnet; the poem is fourteen lines of iambic pentameter, which are very traditional elements. Shelley breaks from tradition in his rhyme scheme, however. Rather than adhere to the English or Petrarchan rhyme schemes, Shelley does something different in "Ozymandias." The rhyme scheme is ABABACDCEDEFEF”(Ozymandias, Poetry for Students). As Shelley produced a simple sonnet he decided to make it unique. To do so he changed the normal rhyme scheme by just a little. But the caught many intelligent people’s attention. “The rhyme scheme of ‘Ozymandias' gradually changes over time, just as the subject matter (Ozymandias's statue) does. The last two lines have little in common with the first two, just as the rubble of Ozymandias's statue has little in common with the original structure. In both cases, the form is entirely different; only the subject is the same” (Ozymandias, Poetry for Students). Shelley has an evolving poem and story. He doesn’t break up the sonnet like most do;and gradually Shelley changes the rhyme scheme. However the story evolved so much that the first and last two lines have little to do with each other; but it actually fits with the story he has told about the falling of the statue:emphasizing the change after a fallen kingdom. Ozymandias pride and kingdom has fallen. He calls for help and despair. It is seen as foolish, he is talking about the mocking that he once heard. All is ironic that only the works of the artist has survived and not the kings.
This poem is different from most Shelley has written but it aligns with his theme of political reform writings. Critics have actually enjoyed this poem and believe the message has been clearly understood. Christopher R. Miller and John Rodenbeck are some of the critics that liked the piece, but also see flaws in the writing and the poet. Stated by Christopher R. Miller, “Ozymandias might as well be the name for an obsolete God rather than an earthly monarch, and Shelley is really dismissing both gods bowed to as monarchs, and tyrants worshipped as gods” (Ozymandias, Poetry for Students). It is believed that Shelley didn't only write this for his political reform of the British monarchy but also for hatred toward God. It can be compared to see a similarity and a connection to Shelley’s hatred towards the British government and his hatred of God. Due to Shelley hating God and being an atheist, Shelley could never connect to a religious country therefore creating his hatred for the British. Miller saw a connection from Shelley’s poem and the story in the bible about a statue that represents a king and falls due to human temptation. Believing that this kingdom represents the future of the British if they continue to rely on God. “In Shelley’s view of history, all empires are foredoomed to disappear and for a work of what we call art merely to have outlived one of them hardly signifies anything. If that works is merely a portrait of a tyrant, moreover the value one places upon it” (Ozymandias, Poetry for Students). Rodenbeck believes the irony of the poem caused a memorializing of the tyrant instead of the criticism and hatred of him. In some ways, the message of the king “Ozymandias” and his broken regime is to be an encouragement to those who are suffering under an unjust regime, or who are angered by one.
In conclusion Shelley embraced his romanticism ideals into his work and his daily life. He wanted to change the world for the better, however is did take a lot of time and help from his peers. Even though he lived a short life, Shelley exemplified inspiring, lasting, rebellious works to the British people catching their attention and opening their eyes. Especially in the poems Song to the Men of England and Ozymandias, and many more works by Shelley, both commit to the theme of political change with his use of romanticism.