第6章

Themassyearth，thespheredskiesaregiven: Iambornedarkly，fearfullyafar; Whilst，burningthroughtheinmostveilofheaven，ThesoulofAdonaislikeastarBeaconsfromtheabodewheretheeternalare。 TheSoulofAdonais？—Adonais，whoisbutAportionofthelovelinessWhichoncehemademorelovely。 Afterall，tofinishwherewebegan，perhapsthepoemsonwhichtheloverofShelleyleansmostlovingly，whichhehasoftenestinhismind，whichbestrepresentShelleytohimandwhichheinstinctivelyrevertstowhenShelley\'snameismentionedaresomeoftheshorterpoemsanddetachedlyrics。HereShelleyforgetsforawhileallthatevermakeshisverseturbid;forgetsthatheisanythingbutapoet，forgetssometimesthatheisanythingbutachild;liesbackinhisskiff，andlooksattheclouds。Heplaystruantfromearth，slipsthroughthewicketoffancyintoheaven\'smeadow，andgoesgatheringstars。Herewehavethatabsolutevirgin—goldofsongwhichisthescarcestamonghumanproducts，andforwhichwecangotobutthreepoets—Coleridge，Shelley，Chopin，{8}andperhapsweshouldaddKeats。ChristabelandKubla—Khan;TheSkylark，TheCloud，andTheSensitivePlant（initsfirsttwoparts）。TheEveofSaintAgnesandTheNightingale;certainoftheNocturnes;—thesethingsmakeveryquintessentialisedloveliness。Itisattarofpoetry。 Remark，asathingworthremarking，that，althoughShelley\'sdictionisatothertimessingularlyrich，itceasesinthesepoemstoberich，ortoobtrudeitselfatall;itisimperceptible;hisMusehasbecomeaveritableEcho，whosebodyhasdissolvedfromabouthervoice。Indeed，whenhisdictionisrichest，neverthelessthepoetrysodominatestheexpressionthatwefeelthelatteronlyasanatmosphereuntilwearesatiatedwiththeformer;thenwediscoverwithsurprisetohowimperialavesturewehadbeenblindedbygazingonthefaceofhissong。Alesson，this，deservingtobeconnedbyagenerationsooppositeintendencyasourown:alessonthatinpoetry，asintheKingdomofGod，weshouldnottakethoughttoogreatlywherewithweshallbeclothed，butseekfirst{9}thespirit，andallthesethingswillbeaddeduntous。 OnthemarvellousmusicofShelley\'sverseweneednotdwell，excepttonotethatheavoidsthatmetronomicbeatofrhythmwhichEdgarPoeintroducedintomodernlyricmeasures，asPopeintroduceditintotherhymingheroicsofhisday。Ourvariedmetresarebecomingaspainfullyover—polishedasPope\'sonemetre。Shelleycouldatneedsacrificesmoothnesstofitness。HecouldwriteananapaestthatwouldsendMr。Swinburneintostrongshudders（e。g。，\"streamdidglide\"）whenheinstinctivelyfeltthatbysoforgoingthemoreobviousmusicofmelodyhewouldbettersecurethehighermusicofharmony。Ifwehavetoaddthatinotherwayshewasfarfromescapingthedefectsofhismerits，andwouldsometimeshavetoacknowledgethathisNiloticfloodtoooftenoverfloweditsbanks，whatisthisbutsayingthathediedyoung？ ItmaybethoughtthatinourcasualcommentsonShelley\'slifewehavebeenblindtoitsevilside。That，however，isnotthecase。 Weseeclearlythathecommittedgravesins，andonecruelcrime; butwerememberalsothathewasanAtheistfromhisboyhood;wereflecthowgrossmusthavebeenthemoralneglectinthetrainingofachildwhoCOULDbeanAtheistfromhisboyhood:andwedeclinetojudgesounhappyabeingbytheruleswhichweshouldapplytoaCatholic。ItseemstousthatShelleywasstruggling—blindly，weakly，stumblingly，butstillstruggling—towardshigherthings。 HisPantheismisanindicationofit。Pantheismisahalf—wayhouse，andmarksascentordescentaccordingtothedirectionfromwhichitisapproached。NowShelleycametoitfromabsoluteAtheism;thereforeinhiscaseitmeantrise。Again，hispoetryalonewouldleadustothesameconclusion，forwedonotbelievethatatrulycorruptedspiritcanwriteconsistentlyetherealpoetry。Weshouldbelieveinnothing，ifwebelievedthat，foritwouldbetheconsecrationofalie。Poetryisathermometer:bytakingitsaverageheightyoucanestimatethenormaltemperatureofitswriter\'smind。Thedevilcandomanythings。Butthedevilcannotwritepoetry。Hemaymarapoet，buthecannotmakeapoet。 AmongallthetemptationswherewithhetemptedSt。Anthony，thoughwehaveoftenseenitstatedthathehowled，wehaveneverseenitstatedthathesang。 Shelley\'sanarchicprincipleswereasaruleheldbyhimwithsomemisdirectedviewtotruth。Hedisbelievedinkings。Andisitnotamerefact—regretitifyouwill—thatinallEuropeancountries，excepttwo，monarchsareameresurvival，theobsoletebuttonsonthecoat—tailsofrule，whichservenopurposebuttobecontinuallycomingoff？ItisamiserablethingtonotehoweverylittleBalkanState，havingobtainedliberty（savethemark！）byActofCongress，straightwayproceedstosecuretheserviceofaprofessionalking。 ThesegentlemenareplentifulinEurope。Theyarethe\"nobleChairmen\"wholendtheirnamesforaconsiderationtoanyenterprisingcompanywhichmaybespeculatinginLiberty。Whenweseethesethings，wereverttotheoldlinesinwhichPersiustellshowyoucannotturnDamaintoafreemanbytwirlinghimroundyourfingerandcallinghimMarcusDama。 Again，Shelleydesiredareligionofhumanity，andthatmeant，tohim，areligionforhumanity，areligionwhich，unlikethespectralChristianityabouthim，shouldpermeateandregulatethewholeorganisationofmen。AndthefeelingisonewithwhichaCatholicmustsympathise，inanagewhen—ifwemaysaysowithoutirreverence—theAlmightyhasbeenmadeaconstitutionalDeity，withcertainstate—grantsofworship，butnoinfluenceoverpoliticalaffairs。Inthesemattershisaimsweregenerous，ifhismethodswereperniciouslymistaken。InhistheoryofFreeLovealone，borrowedliketherestfromtheRevolution，hisaimwasasmischievousashismethod。Atthesametimehewasatleastlogical。Histheorywasrepulsive，butcomprehensible。Whereasfromourpresentviamedia—facilitationofdivorce—canonlyresulttheerawhentheyoungladyinreducedcircumstanceswillnolongerturngovernessbutwillbeopentoengagementaswifeatareasonablestipend。 WespokeofthepurityofShelley\'spoetry。Weknowofbutthreepassagestowhichexceptioncanbetaken。OneishappilyhiddenunderaheapofShelleianrubbish。Anotherisoffensive，becauseitpresentshistheoryofFreeLoveinitsmostodiousform。Thethirdisverymuchamatter，wethink，fortheindividualconscience。 ComparewiththisthegenuinelycorruptByron，throughthecracksandfissuresofwhoseheavingversificationsteamupperpetuallythesulphurousvapoursfromhiscentraliniquity。WecannotcreditthatanyChristianeverhadhisfaithshakenthroughreadingShelley，unlesshisfaithwereshakenbeforehereadShelley。Isanysafelyhavenedbarklikelytoslipitscable，andmakeforaflagplantedontheveryreefwheretheplanterhimselfwaswrecked？ Whyindeed（oneistemptedtoaskinconcluding）shoulditbethatthepoetswhohavewrittenforusthepoetryrichestinskieygrain，mostfreefromadmixturewiththedullerthingsofearth—theShelleys，theColeridges，theKeats—aretheverypoetswhoselivesareamongthesaddestrecordsinliterature？Isitthat（bysomesubtilemysteryofanalogy）sorrow，passion，andfantasyareindissolublyconnected，likewater，fire，andcloud;thatasfromsunanddewarebornthevapours，sofromfireandtearsascendthe\"visionsofaerialjoy\";thattheharvestwavesrichestoverthebattlefieldsofthesoul;thattheheart，liketheearth，smellssweetestafterrain;thatthespellonwhichdependsuchnecromanticcastlesissomespiritofpaincharm—poisonedattheirbase？{10}