I am looking up books that can help explain the life better of Percy Shelley, author of the famous sonnet Ozymandias. It is important when studying a poem, to know about the author himself. Readers can learn about context to better understand the writing and more can be said about why it was written and even reference any personal experiences.
T.J. Hoggs The Life of Percy Shelley
T.J. Hoggs does a great study on the life of Percy Shelley. He writes a lot about the beginnings of his life and into his more professional career. A lot was written about his poem, Ozymandias. Contemporaries were curious about this sonnet and how he described tree like legs that were left, this did not fit what was really left by statues in Ancient Egypt and Ancient Greece. Hoggs describes how Shelley himself was a traveler, so he was likely to have seen these. So there is some discrepancy as to how personal this writing is to Shelley. This looks like a wonderful source to use when learning about his life. It is online and I am able to get a good look at the book, though it would be easier to hold it in my hands. It is linked on the internet archive.
Keats-Shelley Journal
This I found on JSTOR (the website that truly helped me write my research papers). Although it talks about Keats, adding contemporaries to the study of Shelley helps researchers gain more information about the context and the history about what they are reading. This is why I found this source applicable. The journal talks about other things that Shelley read and other pieces to compare his poems too. It also references one of his writings, and how he was draw to certain statues or colossal figures, which obviously inspired his writings. This is a good source because it deals a lot with contemporaries and even has some of his own writings.
I think, with looking at these two sources, it can be agreed that Shelley was a intellectual man. He broadened his horizons by study works from his contemporaries. He was also well traveled, which can really influence his writings.
I love how in your comments about your second source you mention that one can compare other things that Shelley read to his own work. I often forget that great poets are also influenced by others and are able to use that inspiration in their own work.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting how he left discrepancies in his poem that he more than likely knew were false. That says a lot about Shelley and his writing style, and that he must have had a reason for them.
ReplyDeleteI think that the prospect of Shelley being a traveler adds a really interesting element to this poem. At the time, England was experiencing an infatuation with Egypt and Egyptian culture and history, so it is likely that Shelley would have wanted to Egypt to see ancient ruins. It is interesting to think about whether his travels caused a cross-section between his experience traveling and his political views in England.
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