Percy Bysshe Shelley's The Cloud and the Romantic Theme of Deity in Nature

“But where were my friends and relations? No father had watched my infant days, no mother had blessed me with smiles and caresses; or if they had, all my past life was now a blot, a blind vacancy in which I distinguished nothing. From my earliest remembrance I had been as I then was in height and proportion. I had never yet seen a being resembling me or who claimed any intercourse with me.” (Shelley

The nature around them is symbolic of their emotions and mental states. For example, the weather turned stormy when Victor’s mood worsened (ch. 10). Victor also feels that nature, “gives wings to the soul and allows it to soar from the obscure world to light and joy.” (ch.10) Nature has a calming and peaceful effect on both of them when they are not in good mental health; using nature to clear their minds. It is not surprising that Mary Shelley wrote this during the period of transcendentalism. In this time period, books like Walden by Henry David Thoreau highlighted the importance of nature. These similarities in how they interact with nature show their deeper similarities in mentality.

“The Wisdom Of Shelley” by George Elliott Clarke is a beautifully written poem with a darker meaning. There are many interesting things hiding within the poem but there are a few specific ones I will mention. First, there are many different poetic devices used within this short poem. This includes imagery, similes, and repetition. Second, the symbol of this poem is the rose which is mentioned a few times throughout the poem. Third, the theme for “The Wisdom Of Shelley is deception. Each of these points contributes to my understanding of the poem in its own way.

Mary Shelley used this poem to show the freedom of one's future and the change(s) that will come with it. The poem also mentions one little thing such as a dream or a “wandering thought” can ruin a bigger idea. In the story, it was recently addressed that before the poem, “If our impulses were confined to hunger, thirst, and desire, we might be nearly free”. This passage can be implying that the non-essential things in life are the things that poison us or make us change. The poem’s purpose in this part of the book is to amplify the speaker's last words of the paragraph that state, “...we are moved by every wind that blows and a chance word or scene that word may convey to us.”. It makes the message of “things will change” very clear to the

In Ozymandias Percy Shelley explores the trivial nature of humanity through the lens of Ozymandias’ decrepit statue and the implications the statue has for both Ozymandias’ and the reader. By alluding to the “King of Kings” in his decree on the pedestal, Ozymandias not only paints himself as an authority over all rulers in a literal sense, but also tethers himself to the biblical Jesus. This elevates Ozymandias to the status of God while suggesting an ability for him to continue living past his death, much in the way Jesus rose after his biblical crucifixion. Furthermore, this allusion indicates Ozymandias’ belief that his life and legacy will continue to impact the world in a way similar to that of Christ; outliving his time and continuing

To start of, the poem has an appeal of imagination and has many features that show this. First of, we have numerous metaphors, "I am a thousand winds that blow" and "I am the diamond glints on snow" are examples. These metaphors are indirectly comparing him to the greatness, to the amounts of them, trying to relate to us by telling us how he is everywhere. He might not be here in person but he is all around as used in the metaphors the wind, in the snow, in sunlight that ripens the grains everywhere. Second, the poem has the symbol of "do not stand at my

In Shelley’s text, the scene consists of a few

Before delving too deep into Shelley's novel, it is very important to label the ideologies and connections behind Romanticism as a literary period, and a literary movement. The poetry and prose of the Romantic movement meant to show a obvious connection to the imagination. Romanticism, at it's most basic understanding, which was mainly active through the end of the eighteenth century and the beginning of the nineteenth century, can be separated from the preceding Enlightenment by recognizing that in the Enlightenment, there was a “preoccupation with reason in

In this case, the clouds are connected to the notion that humans will eventually disappear and that none of their actions will last. Percy Shelley in the next stanza compares humans to lyres; each time the lyre is struck, it plays a dissonant and unmelodious note. Just like the notes played, humans will always give differing responses at different times because they will have changed emotionally. The melodious tunes have been forgotten and unmelodious ones have taken their place; in comparison, the previous unity and harmony have been replaced by disunity and tension in human minds and mankind. Shelley compares man to clouds and lyres in order to express his powerful reasoning that humans are undergoing change at all times.

The poem opens with the speaker comparing humans to "clouds that veil the midnight moon" (Line 1). The clouds move radiantly across the sky and cover the light of the moon. The words "speed", "gleam", "quiver" and "streaking" personify the cloud image. Shelley describes the cloud's actions as a metaphor for human actions, "How restlessly they speed, and gleam, and quiver, / streaking the darkness radiantly!" (Lines 2-3). He believes that humans go through life with speed, not taking time to rest; like clouds at night, we do not last forever. Shelley’s use of the word of "veil" instead of "covers" creates a sense of purposefully hidden light. In lines three to four of the poem the wondrous sight is eventually extinguished by the darkness, "- yet soon/ Night closes round, and they are lost forever.” By using this image of the night Shelley shows the cycle of change and demonstrates human morality. The speaker is pointing out that humans have short lives on Earth and regardless of how radiantly we may shine, we are like clouds at night that are overshadowed.

“The science of today is the technology of tomorrow.” So says Edward Teller, echoing his thoughts as a noted physicist that science isn’t just the future, but indeed what creates the future. But what about Mary Shelley? A noted romanticist, Mary Shelley’s views may have been a bit different from those of Teller. In fact, Mary Shelley’s first novel, Frankenstein, might just be the best example of her thoughts on the matter. Throughout the novel, Shelley emphasizes the importance of scientific responsibility, and is clearly against science playing the role of God. However, this is not for any real religious purpose. Instead, Shelley uses science to express gradual degradation of what she had viewed as the natural world that that she had treasured during her time period, and the gradual destruction of natural beauty in the world, using the novel and its characters to support her demonization of science in favor of a more natural world. The terror of the scientific creation of Frakenstein contrasted with the serenity of the natural world as portrayed in the novel Frankenstein give the novel a clearly romantic message that preaches about the importance of the Earth’s natural aspect.

Poetry Essay Poetry is defined by Robert Frost as “an idea caught in the act of dawning” (Kennedy & Gioia, 2013, p. 580). Poetry brings about themes, ideas, and insight. These themes and ideas are present in a unique format in “Ozymandias.” The poem “Ozymandias” by Percy Bysshe Shelley presents a convincing theme, settings and major literary devices.

These dark and grim metaphors might hide a deeper meaning, for in his essay "The Necessity of Atheism", Shelley compared religion and God to a "veil woven by philosophical conceit, to hide the ignorance of philosophers even from themselves" (Shelley ?) The fact that Shelley compared religion to a veil gives a whole new interpretation to this poem. The poem can thus be interpreted as

On of the most influential romantic English poets of the 19th century was Percy Bysshe Shelley. He was born August 4th 1792 to Sir Timothy and Elizabeth Pilford Shelley in Field Place, Horsham, Sussex, England. (Crook) Shelley was the oldest of six children. He had one brother, John and four sisters, Mary, Elizabeth, Hellen, and Margaret. His family lived a very comfortable lifestyle, especially his dad’s father, Bysshe Shelley whom owned quite a few estates. Shelley’s father was also a member of parliament.

The speaker furthermore conveys the idea that nature is a grandeur that should be recognized by including the element of imagery. The poet utilizes imagery as a technique to appeal to reader’s sense of sight . It is “the darkest evening of the year” (line 8) and a traveller and his horse stop “between the woods and frozen lake” (line 7). By writing with details such as these, readers are capable of effortlessly envisioning the peaceful scenery that lies before the speaker. The persona then draws on reader’s sense of sound. “The only other sound’s the sweep / Of easy wind and downy flake.” The illustration allows readers to not only see,