P. B. Shelley: A Defense of Poetry, and Other Essays

By: Percy Bysshe Shelley

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

Shelley took his place within the vatic history of mythopoetic bards and bore the Visionary legacy. He offered a simple “spark” of poetry to his audience while promising a raging fire would burn if the poetry was nurtured correctly. However, Shelley realized that most people cannot accept the poet’s offering (for various reasons; ignoring, rejecting or misunderstanding) and they let that spark smolder into nothing. Shelley shouts into his written words, leaving his hard-earned knowledge of the human condition and his visionary plight for willing human ears. Shelley paints himself as the Visionary, sound and steady within a wisdom that understands the suffering beauty of the human condition, who sits as a "tranquil star" to burn as heavenly light. Shelley’s hope is to guide humanity through the dark night of doubt and fear towards the possibility laying dormant within being human. A Defence of Poetry On Love On Life On A Future State On the Punishment of Death, A Fragment Speculations on Metaphysics Speculations on Morals Essay on the Literature, The Arts, and the Manners of the Athenians, A Fragment On the Symposium, Or Preface to the Banquet of Plato, A Fragment Even Love is Sold, An Essay on Prostitution The Necessity of Atheism, A Note on Queen Mab