Angela Chureva/23368 June, 2015 English literature 4 - poetry

Discuss P.B Shelley and G.G. Byron’s understanding of the power of

nature (consider the poems we have studied)
Known as the later Romantic poets, Shelley and Byron had a distinct view
and understanding of the power of nature; however they shared many similar
features and characteristics in their writing and their liberal points of view. We
can see these relationship tremendously clear in many of their poems, if not in all
of them, for they were very articulate and had tendency to freely express their
thoughts and feelings, and they did that masterfully. The implication of the theme
of the significance of nature is very important in the contrast between the older
generation of Romantic poets who viewed nature as a source of truth and
authentic experience, whereas the younger generation grasped nature largely as
a source of beauty and aesthetic experience.

Shelley, as an ardent liberalist, had certain tendencies which made him a

rebel and a reformer, a believer in the possibility of freedom and social reform. In
one of his greatest poems, ‘Ode to the West Wind’ Shelley shows his
revolutionary zeal and his belief in the power of nature, also illustrating the
connection between man and nature as the most sublime relationship. Shelley
believes that both nature and men are suffering from deadly diseases, such as
tyranny, oppression and injustice, which can be cured by the power of nature, a
power that the West Wind possesses, because it is a destructive yet creative
agent of nature, which also symbolizes the free spirit of humankind. In addition, in
his poem ‘The Cloud’, we can also see the main theme being the immortality of
the human soul; the cloud is being personified and is constantly changing its form,
but never dies, as well as the human soul. An interesting image of the cloud: ‘’as
still as brooding dove’’ at sunset, is also given. This is significant because the cloud
here is a metaphor for the creative energy, or the Holy Spirit, or we are going
back to the meaning of spirit as a creative power related to the human spirit
which again relates to the power of nature. In his poems, Shelley explicitly
connects nature with art by expressing his ideas about power, quality and
ultimate effect of the aesthetic expression by means of powerful natural
metaphors.
Angela Chureva/23368 June, 2015 English literature 4 - poetry

In contrast, we have the most flamboyant and most cosmopolitan Romantic

poet of the age, George Gordon Byron, whose poetic style and way of expression
was nowhere similar to the style of his fellow poets. Poetic imagination was not
for him the revelation of the ultimate truth; he did not embrace the belief in the
benevolence of nature, or Shelley’s faith in human perfection, although he named
Pope as his master and never lost touch with reality, but he was a free thinker and
a believer in the power of nature. He often expressed his belief in liberty of mind,
body and expression in his works, although he sometimes goes far into the field of
sexuality, and links liberty with the sensational possibilities of the individual, and
the importance of grasping them and enjoying them to the fullest. In one of his
major works, ‘Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage’, he perceptively captures his essence in
Canto IV:

But I have lived, and have not lived in vain:

My mind may lose its force, my blood its fire,

And my frame perish even in conquering pain,

But there is that within me which shall tire

Torture and Time, and breathe when I expire [.].

His belief in the freedom of the self is the most sublime freedom a human being
can have, and this freedom can only be achieved through nature.