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this book is good. it's very straightforward and more about placing Shelley in his historical/political milieu than it is about opening up the texts in an innovative way. however, that's OK because it is a fascinating period -- England in the wake of the french revolution, when all the forces of reaction were being marshalled to quell workers' rebellions -- and you end up getting all the historical references in the poems.
the big takeaway is that almost all of shelley's poems are direct responses to current events and historical figures. sometimes he actually names the people he is calling out, like take this selection from the masque of anarchy:
III met Murder on the way -
He had a mask like Castlereagh -
Very smooth he looked, yet grim;
Seven blood-hounds followed him:
III
All were fat; and well they might
Be in admirable plight,
For one by one, and two by two,
He tossed the human hearts to chew
Which from his wide cloak he drew.
IV
Next came Fraud, and he had on,
Like Eldon, an ermined gown;
His big tears, for he wept well,
Turned to mill-stones as they fell.
V
And the little children, who
Round his feet played to and fro,
Thinking every tear a gem,
Had their brains knocked out by them.
VI
Clothed with the Bible, as with light,
And the shadows of the night,
Like Sidmouth, next, Hypocrisy
On a crocodile rode by.
castelragh, edon and sidmouth were real historical figures who oversaw repressive policies during shelley's lifetime.
― treeship., Monday, 13 April 2020 17:36 (four years ago) link
I have lost my (unread) copy of The Pursuit somehow. I've turned the house upside down looking for it; it's not like it's small. Maddening!
A little domestic drama, there. (My long poem is going to be the Wreck of the Deutschland.)
― Vanishing Point (Chinaski), Monday, 13 April 2020 18:22 (four years ago) link
three years pass...