Percy Bysshe Shelley as Sonneteer - Essay Example

Percy Bysshe Shelley as Sonneteer What makes a sonnet a sonnet? According to the ical definitionof the term, a sonnet is a 14-line poem with a specific rhyme scheme and generally following a rather predictable thematic structure. An example of a traditional rhyme scheme would be abab abab cde cde. This type of sonnet, the Italian sonnet, was usually thematically divided into the octet (the first eight lines) which presented a problem and the sestet (the final six lines) which suggests the resolution. When the poetic form made the translation into English, new rhyme schemes were developed and thematic structures sometimes changed to reflect these changes. An example of this is the Spenserian sonnet, which generally follows a rhyme scheme of abab bcbc cdcd ee. The thematic structure has a less defined skeleton, but generally allows three consecutive quatrains contribute to the development of an idea and a concluding couplet that summarizes the concept thus presented. The traditional definition of a sonnet also indicates that the poem should be written in iambic pentameter, meaning it has five stressed syllables within the line, generally spaced by five unstressed syllables. This seems to be true of each of the above mentioned sonnet forms. A quick glance at Percy Bysshe Shelley’s poetry, however, provide no immediate clues, such as quatrain or octet physical division, that these are sonnets. The rhyme scheme does not match with any of the well-known adaptations that have been passed down. However, a close look at two of his poems, “To Wordsworth” and “Ozymandias” reveal Shelley’s own experimentation with the sonnet form coupled with a more traditional approach to thematic structure as he discusses the destructive powers of death. In each of these poems, Shelley examines the destructive powers of death by approaching it from two much different viewpoints. In “To Wordsworth”, Shelley laments the loss of a greatly admired poet. Shelley is able to empathize with Wordsworth’s many nature poems because he, too, has experienced these things: “That things depart which never may return. / Childhood and youth, friendship and love’s first glow, / Have fled like sweet dreams, leaving thee to mourn, / These common woes I feel” (2-5). This close identification felt by Shelley helps to establish the degree of respect and admiration he has felt for Wordsworth for some time. Throughout the poem, Shelley struggles to put into words how he feels about Wordsworth’s contribution to the world, comparing him to a “lone star whose light did shine” (7) and “a rock-built refuge” (9). However, with his death, Wordsworth has ceased to bring any new meaning to the world, his power has ended and he has ceased to be. Therefore, Shelley can only grieve over the loss rather than treasure the legacy at the moment. The hint that there is a legacy to treasure is suggested in the nature of Wordsworth’s art that has so influenced Shelley, mentioned in the opening lines of the poem and highly praised almost to the end. This concept of the loss of power to influence the world is echoed in “Ozymandias” yet is taken from a different perspective. Rather than expressing a real, deep and current pain directly felt, Shelley is now objectively relating a story he heard from another person. He has little to no emotional involvement with the subject, but acknowledges the relevance of the story to a wide audience and thus passes it along. In this story, rather than being a recent loss, the loss of the man who evidently had significant power to influence the world is placed in “an antique land” (1), far removed from the speaker and the listener and distant enough so as to not be recognizable if named. The depiction of this leader is given in fragments, literally. “Two vast and trunkless legs of stone / Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand, / Half sunk, a shattered visage lies” (2-4). The personality of this individual is described as having been carefully captured by the artist who rendered it, indicating the power of art to transcend death and leave behind something. However, what that something might be is not always controllable. Just as Wordsworth’s voice has lost its power to stand up for truth and beauty, Ozymandias, identified only because of a name plate inscribed in the pedestal upon which the legs are standing rather than through any recorded memory, has lost his power to make others shudder with the impressiveness of his works. Without their leader, the nation founded by Ozymandias disappeared into the shifting sands leaving nothing, not even ruins, except for this lonely broken statue, behind. Shelley’s penchant for experimenting with the sonnet form becomes evident within the thematic structure of both of these poems. While “To Wordsworth” consists of the traditional three quatrains and a couplet composition, the order in which these elements are presented is changed, as is the purpose of the element. In the first quatrain, Shelley describes Wordsworth’s poetry in terms of his sorrow at things lost forever, such as “youth, friendship and love’s first glow” (3). The second quatrain is divided between making a connection between Shelley and Wordsworth and indicating the influence Wordsworth had on Shelley. Instead of introducing the third quatrain, however, the couplet is inserted at this point, almost as a continuation of the previous thought, to link the individual connection and influence to “the blind and battling multitude” (10). The poem ends with a concluding quatrain that sums up the feelings and thoughts that have been expressed while making it clear what, exactly, is the thing “which thou too feel’st, yet I alone deplore” (6). In this structural sense, the poem presents the problem/resolution pattern of the Italian sonnet with a heavy influence on the English-speaking organization. “Ozymandias” presents an even greater sense of experimentation with the traditional sonnet form. In this poem, Shelley fills the first five lines with an introduction to the setting and a description of the statue. This is followed by a series of triplets in which the story is further developed, one stage at a time until the final triplet, in which the poem’s point is made in true sonnet tradition. The first of these triplets illustrates the hand of the artist in the lasting impression of the king: “its sculptor well those passions read, / Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things” (6-7). The second triplet reveals the identity of the statue as well as his lofty promises “Look on my works ye Mighty, and despair!” (11). With this build-up, it is easy to forget the fragmented nature of the statue as it was first presented and to instead envision a truly powerful and cruel tyrant. However, the third triplet brings the narrative back into perspective while it makes its point regarding the inability of even great men to overcome the ravages of time. The clue to the structure of each of these poems can be found in the simple decoding of the rhyme scheme employed by Shelley. For example, the second quatrain in “To Wordsworth” does not immediately emerge as an element of its own until the rhyme scheme is analyzed. Once this is done, the scheme emerges as abab cdcd ee fgfg. Now it can be seen how Shelley intended to turn his personal experience of loss into a loss for the educated as a voice for “truth and liberty” ceases to share its wisdom and insight first by indicating what it meant for him personally and then, in the couplet, to indicate how it stood as a “rock-built refuge” for countless others who felt drowned by “the blind and battling multitude” (9-10). Although all Shelley truly did was rearrange the rhyme scheme of an already popular sonnet form, this reorganization enables him to deliver a beautiful and eloquent summary of Wordsworth’s work, influence and the profound nature of his own sadness. Without the additional space available within the concluding quatrain, Shelley would have had to confine his poem to a smaller concept. However, with it, he is able to expand the concept of the poem to consider not only Wordsworth’s death, but the destructive power of death itself as Wordsworth simply ceases to be. The rhyme scheme is equally as important in understanding the thematic content of the poem in “Ozymandias.” While it still retains a set and predictable structure, the rhyme scheme developed for this poem is almost entirely its own. Upon examination, the rhyme scheme emerges as ababa cdc ede fef. Each change in rhyme signals a change in direction of thought, although this is not as obvious in the poem without an understanding of the rhyme scheme. For example, Shelley describes the aspect of the statue’s face as having a tyrant’s expression, “and wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command, / Tell that its sculptor well those passions read” (5-6). While this is generally read as a single sentence, the shift in rhyming words provides the reader with a clue that Shelley has moved from the physical description of the statue to the impressions that were made by the artist that have been passed down through time. Similar shifts in thought occur at each of the other triplet breaks, which can be discerned in the language of the poem once it is carefully read. Of course, textual clues also give hints that these changes in thought are occurring, but understanding of the rhyme scheme brings these changes to the forefront and increases the reader’s ability to conceptualize the poem as a whole. Although he was obviously very willing to experiment with the traditional concepts of the sonnet form, Shelley demonstrated a profound knowledge of the structure, thematic and otherwise, of the traditional sonnet. While he did experiment, each of these poems demonstrates a consistent standard within itself that remains strongly based on more traditional ideas. His rhyme schemes are reminiscent of the Spenserian tradition, but continue to include small adjustments that result in profound new meanings and expressions. His thematic concepts remain strongly influenced by the Italian sonnet structure of presenting a problem and then providing a resolution, yet the problems and resolutions are more broadly applicable and more obliquely questioned. In addition, each of the changes he made to the traditional sonnet structure is demonstrated, by the content of the poem itself, to be necessary for the full expression of Shelley’s sentiments and ideas. Without the quatrain shift in “To Wordsworth”, Shelley did not have the space to adequately sum up the ideas he was trying to express. Without a smaller break-up of the body of the poem into triplets rather than quatrains in “Ozymantias”, Shelley would have been limited in the many aspects of the idea he wished to include. Because of these shifts in concept and rhyme scheme, he was able to deliver both well-organized, impactful poems and messages with broad impacts to last beyond the grave. Read More