Poetry Articles for Poetry Writers at World of Poets

Percy Bysshe Shelley 1819

Introductory Notes
The "Defence of Poetry" is by far the most important of Shelley's prose writings, and is of great value in supplementing and correcting the picture of his mind which is given by his lyrical poetry; for we can perceive from this brilliant piece of philosophical discussion that Shelley had intellect as well as imagination.

The immediate occasion of the essay was the publication of Thomas Love Peacock's "Four Ages of Poetry," to which Shelley's work was originally a reply. In this, as in other notable respects, the treatise is parallel with Sidney's. In its present form Shelley has eliminated much of the controversial matter; and it stands as one of the most eloquent and inspiring assertions of the "ideal nature and essential value of poetry."

Paul Halsall, August 1998

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A Defence of Poetry: An Essay According to one mode of regarding those two classes of mental action, which are called reason and imagination,the former may be considered as mind ontemplating the relations borne by one thought to another, however produced, and the latter, as mind acting upon those thoughts so as to color them with its own light, and composing from them, as from elements, other thoughts, each containing within itself the principle of its own integrity. The one is the ro noielv, or the principle of synthesis, and has for its objects those forms which are common to universal nature and existence itself; the other is the ro xoyiselv, or principle of analysis, and its action regards the relations of things simply as relations; considering thoughts, not in their integralunity, but as the algebraical representations which conduct to certain general results. Reason is the enumeration of qualities already known; imagination is the perception of the value of those qualities, both separately and as a whole. Reason respects the differences, and imagination the similitudes of things. Reason is to imagination as the instrument to the agent, as the body to the spirit, as the shadow to the substance.

Poetry, in a general sense, may be defined to be "the expression of the imagination": and poetry is connate with the origin of man. Man is an instrument over which a series of external and internal impressions are driven,like the lternations of an ever - changing wind over an Aeolian lyre, which move it by their motion to ever - changing melody. But there is a principle within the human being, and perhaps within all sentient beings, which acts otherwise than in the lyre, and produces not melody alone, but harmony, by an internal adjustment of the sounds or motions thus excited to the impressions which excite them.It is as if the lyre could accommodate its chords to the motions of that which strikes them, in a determined proportion of sound; even as the musician can accommodate his voice to the sound of the lyre. A child at play by itself will express its delight by its voice and motions; and every inflexion of tone and every gesture will bear exact relation to a corresponding antitype in the pleasurable impressions which awakened it; it will be the reflected image of that impression; and as the lyre trembles and sounds after the wind has died away, so the child seeks, by prolonging in its voice and motions the duration of the effect, to prolong also a consciousness of the cause. In relation to the objects which delight a child these expressions are what poetry is to higher objects. The savage (for the savage is to ages what the child is to years) expresses the emotions produced in him by surrounding objects in a similar manner; and language and gesture, together with plastic or pictorial imitation, become the image of the combined effect of those objects, and of his apprehension of them. Man in society, with all his passions and his pleasures, next becomes the object of the passions and pleasures of man; an additional class of emotions produces an augmented treasure of expressions; and language, gesture, and the imitative arts, become at once the representation and the medium, the pencil and the picture, the chisel and the statute, the chord and the harmony. The social sympathies, or those laws from which, as from its elements, society results, begin to develop themselves from the moment that two human beings coexist; the future is contained within the present, as the plant within the seed; and equality, diversity, unity, contrast, mutual dependence, become the principles alone capable of affording the motives according to which the will of a social being is determined to action,inasmuch as he is social; and onstitute pleasure in sensation, virtue in sentiment , beauty in art, truth inreasoning, and love in the intercourse of kind. Hence men, even in the infancy of society, observe a certain order in their words and actions, distinct from that of the objects and the impressions represented by them, all expression being subject to the laws of that from which it proceeds. But let us dismiss those more general considerations which might involve an inquiry into the principles of society itself, and restrict our view to the manner in which the imagination is expressed upon its forms.

Articles Home

About Poetry Articles for Poetry Writers at World of Poets

Poetry Articles for Poetry Writers at World of Poets puts poets in the drivers seat. Many poets simply write poems without giving them much thought. However, we believe that when you read about poets, about poetry, and about poem writing poets begin to write better poetry. Whether the poetry articles are about online writing tips, entering poetry cotnests, poetic devices, or about poetry literature in general, you are sure to benefit from reading as much about poetry as you can. Our articles on poetry focus on poetry meaning, how to write better poems, poem analysis and enjoyment. We have included poetry essays and knowledge about where to find poetry books on literary criticsm and rhyming as well. Go ahead poet, learn the craft of poetry by studying rhetorical devices, rading poetry writers, and trying to incorporate some literary devices into your own online writing. Poetry doesn't have to be difficult. Learning poetry can be fun, challenging, and rewarding. So read what has been written for the poetry writers of the world: great poetry articles!