![Poetical Essay Percy Bysshe Shelley 1811](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e0/Poetical_Essay_Percy_Bysshe_Shelley_1811.jpg)
"Poetical Essay on the Existing State of Things" is an essay by
Percy Bysshe Shelley
Percy Bysshe Shelley ( ; 4 August 17928 July 1822) was one of the major English Romantic poets. A radical in his poetry as well as in his political and social views, Shelley did not achieve fame during his lifetime, but recognition of his achie ...
published in 1811. The work was lost since its first appearance until a copy was found in 2006 and made available by the
Bodleian Library
The Bodleian Library () is the main research library of the University of Oxford, and is one of the oldest libraries in Europe. It derives its name from its founder, Sir Thomas Bodley. With over 13 million printed items, it is the second- ...
in 2015. The
anti-war
An anti-war movement (also ''antiwar'') is a social movement, usually in opposition to a particular nation's decision to start or carry on an armed conflict, unconditional of a maybe-existing just cause. The term anti-war can also refer to pa ...
and
anti-imperialist
Anti-imperialism in political science and international relations is a term used in a variety of contexts, usually by nationalist movements who want to secede from a larger polity (usually in the form of an empire, but also in a multi-ethnic so ...
work was intended to raise money for the radical Irish journalist
Peter Finnerty
Peter Finnerty (1766?–11 May 1822) was an Irish printer, publisher, and journalist in both Dublin and London associated with radical, reform and democratic causes. In Dublin, he was a committed United Irishman, but was imprisoned in the course ...
, who had been imprisoned for libeling the Anglo-Irish politician
Robert Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh
Robert Stewart, 2nd Marquess of Londonderry, (18 June 1769 – 12 August 1822), usually known as Lord Castlereagh, derived from the courtesy title Viscount Castlereagh ( ) by which he was styled from 1796 to 1821, was an Anglo-Irish politician ...
, whom he accused of mistreating United Irish prisoners. The work is a precursor to ''
The Masque of Anarchy
''The Masque of Anarchy'' (or ''The Mask of Anarchy'') is a British political poem written in 1819 (see 1819 in poetry) by Percy Bysshe Shelley following the Peterloo Massacre of that year. In his call for freedom, it is perhaps the first mode ...
'' and "
England in 1819".
Background
The work was advertised in the March 9, 1811 issue of the ''Oxford University and City Herald''. The poem was dedicated to Harriet Westbrook: "To Harriet W
st oo, this essay is most respectfully ascribed by the author." The title page contained an epigraph from the opening of
Juvenal
Decimus Junius Juvenalis (), known in English as Juvenal ( ), was a Roman poet active in the late first and early second century CE. He is the author of the collection of satirical poems known as the ''Satires''. The details of Juvenal's life ...
’s satires: ''Nunquam ne reponam/Vexatus toties?'' "Am I, who have been outraged so often, never to respond?" The essay was written "by a gentleman of the University of Oxford" whose proceeds were to be used "for assisting to maintain in prison Mr. Peter Finnerty, imprisoned for a libel". It was published and sold by B. Crosby and Company, headed by Benjamin Crosby, in London. The title page contained an epigraph from the 1810 ''
The Curse of Kehama'' by
Robert Southey
Robert Southey ( or ; 12 August 1774 – 21 March 1843) was an English poet of the Romantic school, and Poet Laureate from 1813 until his death. Like the other Lake Poets, William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Southey began as a ra ...
.
Shelley gave one copy of the poem, which was published as a twenty-page pamphlet with a Preface, Notes, dedication page, and Errata page, to his cousin Pilfold Medwin, who took it to Italy. It remained lost for 204 years. It was the 12 millionth printed book added to the Bodleian Library in 2015 when its contents were made available after its purchase. The work was published anonymously as by “a gentleman of the University of Oxford”, and was only attributed to Shelley 50 years after his death. Shelley was 18 at the time he wrote it and a freshman at
Oxford University
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
.
The 172-line poem, in pentameter rhyming couplets, criticizes the British government, lack of
freedom of the press
Freedom of the press or freedom of the media is the fundamental principle that communication and expression through various media, including printed and electronic News media, media, especially publication, published materials, should be conside ...
, corruption, the
Napoleonic War
The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...
, and poverty in Britain. Shelley attacked the government,
established religion
A state religion (also called religious state or official religion) is a religion or creed officially endorsed by a sovereign state. A state with an official religion (also known as confessional state), while not secular, is not necessarily a ...
, the
Peninsular War
The Peninsular War (1807–1814) was the military conflict fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Spain, Portugal, and the United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French Empire during the Napoleonic Wars. In Spain ...
, imperialism, and the monarchy. He attacks the “cold advisers of yet colder kings” who “coolly sharpen misery’s sharpest fang ... regardless of the poor man’s pang”.
In the preface, he states that the poem may appear as “subversive to the existing interests of Government" to those "who do not consider with sufficiently accurate investigation". The goal is to induce reform that would alleviate poverty and abolish persecution by "gradual yet decided intellectual assertions". Shelley opposes force because that is an assertion of power and strength and does not entail reason and rationality. He asks whether "the deprivation of liberty" is not the "deepest, the severest injuries?" Shelley calls for reforms and limits to the government: “A total reform in the licentiousness, luxury, depravity, prejudice, which involve society”.
Summary
The poem opens with a description of carnage and ruin on the battlefield: "Destruction marks thee! o'er the blood-stain'd heath,/Is faintly borne the stifled wail of death." He asks if “rank corruption” shall “pass unheeded by”, mourning how “Millions to fight compell’d, to fight or die/In mangled heaps on War’s red altar lie”. "The sternly wise" and the "mildly good" have all gone to the "unfruitful mansions of the dead." Despotic governments foment wars for the benefit of a select few: "Fell Despotism sits by the red glare/Of Discord's torch, kindling the flames of war." The quest for fame, wealth, glory, and pride blinds everyone to the human costs and suffering of war, regarded as "legal murders". Shelley uses Personification to illustrate the progress of the war: "Fell Ambition o’er the wasted plain/Triumphant guide his car". War and Glory are in the ascendant while Freedom is expiring.
The French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars had resulted in turmoil in Great Britain. The British government under Prime Minister
William Pitt the Younger
William Pitt the Younger (28 May 175923 January 1806) was a British statesman, the youngest and last prime minister of Great Britain (before the Acts of Union 1800) and then first prime minister of the United Kingdom (of Great Britain and Ire ...
had raised taxes to support the war against Napoleon and had cracked down on the opposition and radicalism. Although he had died in 1806, Shelley impugns his legacy: "Pitt lends to each smooth rogue a courtier's smile."
Spencer Perceval
Spencer Perceval (1 November 1762 – 11 May 1812) was a British statesman and barrister who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from October 1809 until his assassination in May 1812. Perceval is the only British prime minister to ...
was the Tory Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in 1811 when the poem was written. He was a conservative who endorsed a rigorous prosecution of the war against France which resulted in widespread poverty and dissent on the home front. He was assassinated in 1812.
He castigates the ministers and officials in a monarchy: "Ye cold advisers of yet colder kings/To whose fell breast no passion virtue brings/Who scheme, regardless of the poor man’s pang,/Who coolly sharpen misery’s sharpest fang,/ Yourselves secure." They achieve fame and obtain the spoils of war while the people they rule bear the costs and are impoverished. They must be confronted and exposed: "Oppression’s venal minions! hence, avaunt!"
The corruption and vices of the rulers are concealed. British MP Sir
Francis Burdett
Sir Francis Burdett, 5th Baronet (25 January 1770 – 23 January 1844) was a British politician and Member of Parliament who gained notoriety as a proponent (in advance of the Chartists) of universal male suffrage, equal electoral districts, vo ...
is applauded for his efforts in initiating a public appeal to raise funds to support journalist Peter Finnerty: “The pen of fame/On every heart has written BURDETT’S name” because "fearless, stemmed stern Despotism's course", who "traced "Oppression to its foulest source", and "bade Ambition tremble on its throne." Burdett sought to reform Parliament and combat corruption throughout his political career. He is showered with encomiums: “Thou taintless emanation from the sky!/Thou purest spark of fires which never die!”
Justice should apply "to each, to all". Despots and Tyrants should not be immune from the laws and escape judgment and justice. The murder of one person is prosecuted, yet the murder of millions of people in wars and under corrupt governments is not.
Shelley attacks British imperialism and colonialism in India: “The fainting Indian, on his native plains,/Writhes to superior power’s unnumbered pains.” He notes the exploitation and oppression: "Though hot with gore from India's wasted plains,/Some Chief, in triumph, guides the tightened reins." The Asian witnesses his wife and child torn from him but can do nothing to prevent or remedy it.
He attacks Napoleon: "May that destruction, which ‘tis thine to spread/Descend with ten-fold fury on thy head". Napoleon "calm can war" and "can misery pour" and can compel "a world to bleed". "In Europe too wild ruin rushes fast" like "an evil spirit brooding over gore". "May curses blast thee." The fall of Napoleon will show that oppression can be overthrown.
Reason has to be applied: "Let Reason mount the Despot’s mouldering throne/And bid an injured nation cease to moan". Rationality “must diffuse light, as human eyes are capable of bearing it." But that is not enough. Men have natural rights that monarchs cannot take away. These are rights that must be acknowledged: "Man must assert his native rights, must say/We take from Monarchs’ hand the granted sway."
Security can only be found in laws: "Oppressive law no more shall power retain." Citizens can only safeguard their freedoms and liberties by a reliance on the reform of the laws.
In conclusion, Shelley asserts that "peace, love, and accord, once shall rule again" and "error's night turned to virtue's day."
Rediscovery
The rediscovery of the work in 2006 and its release to the public in 2015 were regarded as major literary events in English and world literature because of Percy Bysshe Shelley's central role in the Romantic Movement. The poem has been analyzed and reevaluated by literary scholars such as Michael Rossington and
Michael Rosen
Michael Wayne Rosen (born 7 May 1946) is a British children's author, poet, presenter, political columnist, broadcaster and activist who has written 140 books. He served as Children's Laureate from 2007 to 2009.
Early life
Michael Wayne Ros ...
. The work was the 12th millionth book added to the Bodleian Library at Oxford University, donated by Brian Fenwick-Smith.
Vanessa Redgrave
Dame Vanessa Redgrave (born 30 January 1937) is an English actress and activist. Throughout her career spanning over seven decades, Redgrave has garnered numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Television Award, two ...
read selections from the poem on BBC 4.
John Mullin in "Shelley’s long-lost poem – a document for our own time (and any other)" argued that the work was relevant and contemporary and that the themes and issues that Shelley addressed were timeless. The poem was seen as an important work in the author's canon that showed the development and evolution of his political views.
Crook, Nora. "Shelley’s Hidden Blade: Poetical Essay on the Existing State of Things." ''The Keats-Shelley Review'', Volume 30, 2016, pp. 21-28.
/ref>
References
Sources
* Bieri, James. ''Percy Bysshe Shelley: A Biography: Youth's Unextinguished Fire, 1792-1816.'' Second printing. Newark, DE: University of Delaware Press, 2006, p. 152.
*MacCarthy, Denis Florence. ''Shelley’s Early Life'', London: John Camden Hotten, 1872.
*Mullan, John. "Shelley’s long-lost poem – a document for our own time (and any other)", ''The Guardian'', November 11, 2015. Retrieved 22 July, 2017.
*O’Neill, Michael, Anthony, Howe, editors, with assistance from Callahan, Madeleine. ''The Oxford Handbook of Percy Bysshe Shelley.'' Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013, p. 21.
*Rossetti, William Michael, ed. ''The Complete Poetical Works of Percy Bysshe Shelley.'' London: John Slark, 1881, p. 21.
External links
Online version of the 1811 pamphlet. archive.org.
Bodleian Library online version.
{{Percy Bysshe Shelley
1811 essays
1811 non-fiction books
Philosophy books
University College, Oxford
History of Oxford
1811 poems
Works by Percy Bysshe Shelley
English non-fiction books
Anti-war works
Anti-imperialism