SHELLEY AS A POET

From whatever point of view the reader approaches the entire body of Shelley's poetry for purposes of study, a simple classification is necessary. The series of poems, beginning with Queen Mab, an immature boyish composition, and ending with Hellas, written shortly before his death, embody the views of Shelley the reformer. The shorter poems disclose, in the main, the purely æsthetic qualities of Shelley the poet. A brief discussion of both philosophical and lyrical poems will be appropriate.

It has been recorded that on August 4, 1792, the day of Shelley's birth, along the roads near Field Place, "the aristocratic emigrants in coaches, in wagons, in fish-carts," were pouring from revolutionary France. The coincidence is very suggestive. Shelley was a firm believer in the principles of the French Revolution, and throughout his life remained a steadfast supporter of the cause, as he conceived it, of liberty. In matters of abstract philosophy and religion he changed his opinions, and in mature years disowned with shame Queen Mab, the completest exposition in verse of his early revolutionary ideas. But in politics he treasured to the last his vision of an ideal state,

where love would be the all-sufficient motive, and reason the guide to action.

His estimate of the innate qualities of the human mind and heart was high. "The prominent feature of Shelley's theory of the destiny of the human species," writes Mrs. Shelley, "was that evil is not inherent in the system of the creation, but an accident that might be expelled." He insisted that error and ignorance are the ultimate sources of man's sorrow and degradation, and that the race is capable of infinite improvement. The chief obstacle, as he saw it, is a system of government which permits unscrupulous rulers to oppress and stultify their subjects. The representative system of the "Republic of the United States" is "sufficiently remote from ideal excellence," yet "the most perfect of practical governments," and one in which the freedom, happiness, and strength of its people are due to their political institutions. Two conditions, however, demand the most careful consideration: first, "the will of the people should be represented as it is;" secondly, "that will should be as wise and just as possible." The fundamental conception of such ideal excellence was not original with Shelley. Many writers contributed to his views, Godwin more than others; but the distinct form and imaginative

1 Shelley's "Philosophical View of Reform," Transcripts and Studies, Dowden, pp. 41-74.

coloring in which these bare abstractions are presented are Shelley's own.

Prometheus Unbound is perhaps the most adequate statement of his hope for the future, as it is certainly his greatest achievement in poetry. It is written in the form of a lyrical drama, a species of composition in which Shelley imitates the method of the Greek tragedians. There is no attempt at delineation of human character, and the abstract ideas which the poem embodies are more or less obscure because of the cumbrous machinery of allegory. A Greek myth, used by Eschylus in Prometheus Bound, serves with alterations for the general plan of the poem. The friend of mankind is personified in the figure of Prometheus, who is chained to a rock and exposed to various evils by Jupiter, the unjust and tyrannous ruler of the universe. When Prometheus, defying his enemy, has suffered centuries of torture, Demogorgon, the primal power of the world, drives Jupiter from his throne, and Necessity, in the person of Hercules, delivers Prometheus from his sufferings. Asia, the wife of Prometheus, represents the spirit of love in the human race. She is now restored to her husband, and their union marks the beginning of the Golden Age.

Shelley's political philosophy did not escape criticism during his life. It has been the subject of much

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discussion since his time. It is at once evident that his system is impracticable, and that its chief defect springs from his ignorance of humanity. The insistence that evil resides wholly in things external and not in the will of man is warranted neither by history nor by the most casual study of modern states. Such study and reflection must inevitably force the conclusion that "humanity is no chained Titan of indomitable virtue," but "a weak, trembling thing which yet, through error and weakness, traversed or overcome, may at last grow strong." A republic, which comes nearest Shelley's ideal, is precisely so good from every point of view as its people. It is neither above nor below the standard insisted upon by the majority of voters. There may be abuses and temporary defeat of the popular will, but in the end it is this that regulates, or rather is, the law. "The progress that concerns us," as has been well said, "is that which consists in working out the beast, and in gradually growing to the fulness of the stature of the perfect man. Reforms that are far-reaching and permanent must begin in work which refines the emotional and intellectual nature of the average man, and not in abstractions which at best only embody his present views of life.

But is it wise to estimate the value of Prometheus

1 Life of Shelley, Dowden, Vol. II., p. 264.

It certainly

Unbound in the light of its fallacies? urges a doctrine that is practically false, but this is only a partial statement of the truth. Out of Shelley's imperfect and distorted views come other things which the world has always treasured. The political principles in which he believed gained the sincere admiration and support of Wordsworth and Coleridge in their earlier days. They, like Shelley, proclaimed a Golden Age, but, unlike him, lived long enough to forget their dream and accept the world as it is. No poet has conceived more highly of the possibilities of human life nor remained truer to his ideal. Himself of aristocratic family, he was unwilling to accept worldly advantages springing from his position, which would in his opinion entail an unjust law upon future generations.1

At the very heart of his eager enthusiasm for humanity was an abiding love of justice, a love so strong that the dry abstractions and theories of his long philosophical poems become radiant in its light. Springing from this and hardly less pronounced were his intense sympathy for the oppressed, and his hatred of the oppressor. His belief in the brotherhood of man and his recognition of the responsibility of the state for the welfare of the individual are firmly established

1In the settlement with his father he was offered a great fortune upon condition of entailing the estate. Shelley refused.