''Epipsychidion'' is a major poetical work published in 1821 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 ...

. The work was subtitled: ''Verses addressed to the noble and unfortunate Lady Emilia V, now imprisoned in the convent of''. The title is Greek for "concerning or about a little soul", from ''epi'', "around", "about"; and ''psychidion'', "little soul".

Background

Countess Teresa Viviani, the daughter of the governor of

Pisa Pisa ( , or ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for its leaning tower, the cit ...

, was nineteen years old. Her father had placed her in the Convent of

Saint Anna According to Christian apocryphal and Islamic tradition, Saint Anne was the mother of Mary and the maternal grandmother of Jesus. Mary's mother is not named in the canonical gospels. In writing, Anne's name and that of her husband Joachim come ...

. Shelley had visited her several times and had corresponded with her briefly. After the work was published by Charles and James Ollier in London, Shelley requested them to withdraw it. One possible concern was that readers would interpret the poem biographically. Shelley referred to it as "an idealized history of my life and feelings". The poem contains autobiographical elements, consisting of 604 lines written for Viviani, whom Shelley met while she was "imprisoned" in 1820. The theme of the work is a

meditation Meditation is a practice in which an individual uses a technique – such as mindfulness, or focusing the mind on a particular object, thought, or activity – to train attention and awareness, and achieve a mentally clear and emotionally cal ...

on the nature of ideal love. Shelley advocates free love, criticising conventional marriage, which he described as "the weariest and the longest journey". ''Epipsychidion'' opens with an invocation to Emilia as a spiritual sister of the speaker. He addresses her as a "captive bird" for whose nest his poem will be soft rose petals. He calls her an angel of light, the light of the moon seen through mortal clouds, a star beyond all storms. In a letter of 18 June 1822, Shelley described the work: ''Epipsychidion'' was composed at Pisa, in January and February 1821, and was published anonymously in 1821 by Charles and James Ollier, London. The poem was included by Mary Shelley in the ''Poetical Works'' in 1839, both editions. 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- ...

has a first draft of ''Epipsychidion'', "consisting of three versions, more or less complete, of the 'Preface dvertisement; a version in ink and pencil, much cancelled, of the last eighty lines of the poem; and some additional lines which did not appear in print". Shelley informed his publisher Charles Ollier that he wanted ''Epipsychidion'' to be circulated only to the ''sunetoi'', the initiated, the

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