Tuesday, January 28, 2020

General Literary Resources -Textual Reference Works - Rowen Bahmer


Here I describe two textual reference works, designed to help the reader better understand the language of the text at hand. Specifically, I have searched for reference works which will act as a guide to the reader in understanding Percy Shelly's poem "Ozymandias." If I can develop a background in the language of Shelly's poetry, I will be better able to read and analyze that poetry in an appropriate context. 

Preface by Mrs. Shelly. "Notes to the Complete Poetical Work of Percy Bysshe Shelly"

While this work may initially seem like a piece of biographical evidence of the author, Mary Shelly's preface to this book specifically states that she will avoid all reference to Percy Shelly's personal life, instead focusing throughout the book on how Shelly's individual poems came to be. She describes Shelly's motivations for writing as well as various categories into which his poems can be placed, which helps me to understand Shelly's writing. Ozymandias likely falls into the category of the "purely imaginative" poetry. She discusses in depth the overall themes of Shelly's poetry, as well as Shelly's strategies when attempting to put his feelings to words. 

A Companion to Romantic Poetry

After attempting to find more Shelley-specific sources, I finally decided to widen my scope to cover the whole of romantic poetry (why I didn't do this earlier is beyond me).  The book, which is available through the Wiley Online Library, provides insight into the traits common to all romantic poetry, of which Shelly's Ozymandias is a part. In the first chapter, the author discusses the ways in which a lyric poem "Bear[s] out a poet's essential idea of poetry." The introduction to "Ozymandias" could be construed to represent that ideal- Shelly's statement "I met a traveler from an antique land" introduces the poem and provides context for what poetry is, at least for "Ozymandias." Shelly demonstrates the inherent otherworldliness of poetry by making the subject of his poem very definitely removed from himself. 

2 comments:

  1. It's interesting how he might have attempted to separate himself from the writing to showcase the "otherworldliness" of poetry. It does feel like a myth or legend the way it's told, something that may or may not be true but in the end doesn't have to be to capture an audience. Never thought about it that way.

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  2. It is awesome how you found that this poem falls in the "purely imaginative" category. I would have never envisioned that.

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