Poesie

by Percy Bysshe Shelley, Franco Giovanelli (Translator)

Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822) was perhaps the most intellectually adventurous of the great Romantic poets.  A classicist, a headlong visionary, a social radical, and a poet of serene artistry with a lyric touch second to none, Shelley personified the richly various—and contradictory—energies of his time. This compact yet comprehensive collection showcases all the extraordinary facets of Shelley’s art. From his most famous lyrical poems (“Ozymandias,” “The Cloud”) to his political and philosophical works (”The Mask of Anarchy,” “Hymn to Intellectual Beauty”) to excerpts from  his remarkable dramatic and narrative verses (“Alastor,” “Prometheus Unbound”), Shelley’s words gave voice to English romanticism's deepest aspirations.

Genres: Poetry, Classics, English Literature

188 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published July 2, 2008

About the author

Works of Percy Bysshe Shelley, British romantic poet, include "To a Skylark" in 1820; Prometheus Unbound , the lyric drama; and "Adonais," an elegy of 1821 to John Keats.

The Cenci , work of art or literature of Percy Bysshe Shelley of 1819, depicts Beatrice Cenci, Italian noblewoman.

People widely consider Percy Bysshe Shelley among the finest majors of the English language. He is perhaps most famous for such anthology pieces as Ozymandias , Ode to the West Wind , and The Masque of Anarchy . His major long visionary Alastor , The Revolt of Islam , and the unfinished The Triumph of Life .

Unconventional life and uncompromising idealism of Percy Bysshe Shelley combined with his strong skeptical voice to make an authoritative and much denigrated figure during his life. He became the idol of the next two or three generations, the major Victorian and Pre-Raphaelite Robert Browning, Alfred Tennyson, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Algernon Charles Swinburne, as well as William Butler Yeats and in other languages, such as Jibanananda Das and Subramanya Bharathy . Karl Marx, Henry Stephens Salt, and [authorm:Bertrand Russell] also admired him. Famous for his association with his contemporaries Lord Byron, he also married Mary Shelley, novelist.

Reviews

[David Withun · Rating 3 out of 5]

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[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Books of Poetry take me a long time to read. The first time through a poem, especially poems by Romantic poets, are nearly incomprehensible to me. I've found that the best way to get "into" a poem is to read it to myself (aloud or whisper) and feel the rhythm, the pace and the sound of the words. I go back to it later, possibly in a few months or even years I will reread some poems and all of a sudden they make sense. Also if I can memorize a few lines. In other cases with very long poems I look it up on Cliff notes or Shmoop to get the background without losing the feeling of hearing the poem.
For instance, "Adonais" included here was written as an elegy for John Keats who had just passed away from Tuberculosis. I spend several days on this poem. He compares Keats to Adonis (god of love and desire) and Adonai (Used in the Hebrew Bible for The Lord and used in place of YHWH or Yahweh). It seems he mixed the two words together but for the most part compares him to Adonis. He draws a correlation between Adonis who was killed out of jealousy by Artemis, the goddess of the hunt, who drove a boar to gore him. He compares his Artemis to Keats' critics who killed him by criticizing him and not recognizing his greatness and he blames Uriana or Aphrodite for whiling away her time in paradise and not protecting him.
The Original Star Trek Series had an episode named "Who Mourns for Adonais" which is a line from this poem.
That is just one poem. Th "Ode to the West Wind" is arguably his most famous poem. Also "The Mask of Anarchy"(written on the occasion of the massacre at Manchester), "Ozymandias", "The Triumph of LIfe", "Mont Blanc", "Alastor", "Prometheus Unbound", and many more are included in the book which I believe is complete.
It takes a lot of work sometimes to get some poetry and to understand it, but I find in the end it is worth it the trouble.

[Riccardo · Rating 2 out of 5]

"Io sussulto di aneliti profondi.
Ho pallida, fredda la faccia.
Oh stringi il mio cuore sul tuo
fino a che taccia."

Shelley cantore di una frenesia verbale, esuberanza estetizzante e enfasi assoluta troppo lontane dal nostro gusto. L'incapacità di ricondurre le proprie "urgenze fantastiche a un preciso strumento di lessico e stile" lo rendono forse il poeta romantico inglese più estraneo alla nostra sensibilità (e non a caso idolatrato da Carducci e D'Annunzio).

[Paul Klammer]

Bloom list includes, 'The Triumph of Life'