Percy Shelley

I found Shelley's writings to be much more radical than previous authors we have read. As confirmed from the podcast, Shelley was very critical of the political world and looked to change it. I thought he was a little difficult to read, as he proposes difficult and thought-provoking questions. It seems to be his way of working out his own inner thoughts while posing them to his readers as well.

In Mount Blanc, Shelley provides a vivid depiction of the mountain and the surrounding area. His descriptions are so intricate and carefully worded. I was especially drawn to the following lines because of their intense detail:

Fast cloud-shadows and sunbeams: awful scene,/ Where Power in likeness of the Arve comes down/ From the ice gulphs that gird his secret throne,/ Bursting thro' these dark mountains like the flame/ Of lightning through the tempest;- thou dost lie,-

Here, I think Shelley provides a dark scene, possibly a mysterious part of nature. Further along in the poem, Shelley seems to provide a supernatural feel to Mount Blanc:

Seeking among the shadows that pass by,/ Ghosts of all things that are, some shade of thee,/ Some phantom, some faint image; till the breast/ From which they fled recalls them, thou art there!/ Some say that gleams of a remoter world/ Visit the soul in sleep,- that death is slumber,/ And that its shapes the busy thoughts outnumber/ Of those who wake and live.

In stanza 5, Shelley discusses the mountain further and says “Mount 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./ In the calm darkness of the moonless nights,/ In the lone glare of the day, the snows descend/ Upon that Mountain; none beholds them there,/ Nor when the flakes burn in the sinking sun,” To me, it seems as though Shelley is saying that nature is ever-present and its “power” is there and will not cease. Specifically when he says "the still and solemn power", it appears as though no matter what, the mountain will always possess this superiority.

I thought some of these passages were difficult to understand because of Shelley’s intense attention to detail. However, he uses great imagery when describing the mountain. When reading this poem, I felt as though I could see the features Shelley was describing. A few of my favorite lines from “Mount Blanc” are as follows:

Meet in the vale and one majestic River,/ The breadth and blood of distant lands, for ever/ Rolls its loud waters to the ocean waves,/ Breathes its swift vapours to the circling air.

I can almost see the river and its surrounding lands. I really liked this description because I felt as though Shelley was trying to paint a vivid picture for the reader.