ENG 455

7 May 2023

 

            I have chosen “Hymn to Intellectual Beauty” and “Mont Blanc” by Percy Shelley for this writing assignment due to their discussion of beauty as energy, which is why I find “Spirit of Beauty” (“Hymn to Intellectual Beauty,” l.13) as the perfect title for this piece. I find the conversation of beauty as energy very exciting because of how it adds to William Blake’s argument in The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, posed to the reader in both “The Voice of the Devil” and “A Memorable Fancy,” that “Energy is Eternal Delight” (“The Voice of the Devil, l. 13). Shelley’s belief that beauty is what leads this energy sparks great interest in me, as it takes my knowledge of Blake’s idea to a new level, allowing me to delve deeper into the idea of energy as the catalyst to creativity. As discussed in April 21st’s class, beauty can be seen as Shelley’s version of religion, for it is the truth that he lives his life by. Because of this, his poems speak of beauty as the sole force that guides him through life, inspiring his art.

In “Hymn to Intellectual Beauty,” Shelley writes,

                               Thus let thy power, which like the truth

                               Of nature on my passive youth

                        Descended, to my onward life supply

                               Its calm—to one who worships thee

                               And every form containing thee,

                               Whom, Spirit fair, thy spells did bind

                        To fear himself, and love all human kind (ll. 78-84).

            In this passage, Shelley addresses beauty and its energy, or, in his words, “power” (l.78). Similar to how one may speak of a god, Shelley attributes truth, life supply, calmness, worship, and spirit to beauty. Beauty is responsible, Shelley claims, for “the truth / Of nature” descending on his youth, showing him at a young at age that the truth in life can be found in the world around him (ll. 78-80). Shelley finds calmness in the power of beauty, but this calmness is not unique to himself, it can be found by anyone “who worships thee [beauty]” (l. 82). This claim is comparable to a Christian one that God provides security and calmness in his followers through trust that He (God) has a path specially paved for those who trust in Him. This path, Christianity claims, is a destined path that leads Christ’s followers closer to God and everlasting life in heaven. Shelley, in these lines, then, is nodding at the Christian belief that there is a higher power capable of providing calmness to those who are able to tap into it; however, unlike other Shelley moments, he is not critiquing religion for this idea here. Instead, this is a look into an intimate moment or conversation he is having with beauty, showing it is possible to feel fulfilled in the truth of the world that can be perceived and experienced, that one need not look further than the beauty that surrounds them to find peace and calmness.

            Shelley goes on to call beauty a “Spirit fair” that, by “spells,” has bound itself to one’s fear of themselves, but also to one’s love for all of humanity (ll. 83-84). Unlike the Christian idea, posed in Psalm, that fearing God will bring wisdom, Shelley finds the spirit of beauty attaches itself to one’s fear of themself; in this interpretation, one’s fear for themself would come from finding parts of oneself that lack beauty or are inherently not beautiful. This fear would be from appreciating the beauty in the world so much that one would be afraid to find that they are not mirroring that beauty in themself. Furthermore, Shelley attributes one’s love for “all human kind” to beauty (l. 84). This is to say that because there is innate beauty in humankind, beauty is responsible for one’s love and appreciation for humankind. Unlike the Christian idea that mankind is innately sinful, Shelley claims that being led by the world’s natural beauty leads one to see the beauty and greatness that innately exists in fellow man, and beauty is what leads one to love.

            In “Mont Blanc,” Shelley draws similar conclusions:

                        Mont Blanc yet gleams on high:—the power is there,

                        The still and solemn power of many sights,

                        And many sounds, and much of life and death

                        […] The secret strength of things

                        Which governs thought, and to the infinite dome

                        Of heaven is as a law, inhabits thee!

                        If to the human mind’s imaginings

                        Silence and solitude were vacancy? (ll. 127-129, 139-144).

Shelley begins this passage with Mont Blanc gleaming “on high,” a common religious phrase meaning to or in heaven; this places Mont Blanc in the same high esteem beauty is placed in “Hymn to Intellectual Beauty.” Shelley then goes on to describe how Mont Blanc’s power manifests: “still and solemn power of many sights, / And many sounds, and much of life and death” (ll. 128-129). This description of Mont Blanc’s power mirrors that of beauty discussed earlier from “Hymn to Intellectual Beauty.” Shelley writes that Mont Blanc is governing thought and is of heaven, then poses the question that really drives these ideas home: If silence and solitude were vacancy, or, in other words, if silence and solitude were emptiness, how barren and devoid would experiencing the natural world be? Why would moments of sublime be evocative? Because Shelley draws on the natural world for its energy. Being around natural beauty—mountains, rivers, etcetera—elicits an emotional response for Shelley. He finds the natural world to be generative of life, death, stillness, but also to hold “secret strength” (l. 139). Moreover, Shelley finds in Mont Blanc a divine power which calls to him and evokes emotion and curiosity for life, while also, seemingly, granting him a window into an energetic undercurrent found in the natural world.

            For Shelley, the answers to life’s greatest questions cannot be found in a religion or solely in science, for the power sustaining much of life comes from nature. I am curious, then, how a man who identified so strongly with atheism acknowledges an old, deep power in the earth. This is not to say I believe such power comes from a specific god, but the way he speaks of the earth is reminiscent of paganism—that the divine is found in the natural world and life is full of joy, not suffering or sin. Shelley’s earth consciousness does not seem to be based wholly in science, and his feelings toward nature read similar to praise. I am unsure whether Shelley would agree that his poems are working in such a way, but I am also unsure that it was intentional—although, I do not believe intention matters, for one can often find their own beliefs or morals in moments where they stray from a harsh line dictated by a black-and-white conviction that is not perfectly representative of their personal beliefs.

 

 

Works Cited

Shelley, Percy. “Hymn to Intellectual Beauty.” 1816.

Shelley, Percy. “Mont Blanc.” 1816.