Hymn to the Spirit of Nature by Percy Bysshe Shelley (Poem & Summary)

 

Hymn to the Spirit of Nature

by Percy Bysshe Shelley

(Poem & Summary)

  

Shelley was born on 4 August 1792 at Field Place, Broadridge Heath, near Horsham, West Sussex, England. He was the eldest son of Sir Timothy Shelley and his wife, Elizabeth Pilfold. He had four younger sisters and one much younger brother. Shelley’s early childhood was sheltered and mostly happy. He was particularly close to his sisters and his mother, who encouraged him to hunt, fish and ride. At age six, he was sent to a day school run by the vicar of Warnham church, where he displayed an impressive memory and gift for languages.

Percy Bysshe Shelley was one of the major English Romantic poets. He was a superb craftsman, a lyric poet without rival, and surely one of the most advanced sceptical intellects ever to write a poem. Shelley did not achieve fame during his lifetime, but recognition of his achievements in poetry grew steadily following his death and he became an important influence on subsequent generations of poets including Browning, Swinburne, Hardy and Yeats.

Shelley also wrote prose fiction and a quantity of essays on political, social, and philosophical issues. From the 1820s, his poems and political and ethical writings became popular in Owenist, Chartist, and radical political circles and later drew admirers as diverse as Karl Marx, Mahatma Gandhi, and George Bernard Shaw.

Hymn to the Spirit Nature

(The Poem)

Life of Life! thy lips enkindle

With their love the breath between them;

And thy smiles before they dwindle

Make the cold air fire; then screen them

In those looks where whoso gazes

Faints, entangled in their mazes.

 

Child of Light! thy limbs are burning

Through the vest which seems to hide them,

As the radiant lines of morning

Through the clouds, ere they divide them:

And this atmosphere divinest

Shrouds thee wheresoe’er thou shinest.

 

Fair are others; none beholds thee;

But thy voice sounds low and tender

Like the fairest, for if folds thee

From the sight, that liquid splendor;

And all feel, yet see thee never, —

As I feel now, lost forever!

 

Lamp of Earth! where’er thou movest

Its dim shapes are clad with brightness.

And the souls of whom thou lovest

Walk upon the winds with lightness

Till they fail, as I am failing,

Dizzy, lost, yet unbewailing!

 

‘Hymn to the Spirit of Nature’s is a delightful lyric taken from Shelley’s poetic drama Prometheus Unbound (Act II, scene v). It is a song sung by a voice in the air and addressed to Asia, who, in the play, represents Intellectual Beauty, or the Soul of the world, or as the title above indicates, the Spirit of Nature. Prometheus is the spirit of love in mankind, while Asia is the spirit of love in Nature. The union of Prometheus and Asia in Shelley’s play is the union of the spirit of love in man with the spirit of love in Nature. Their union signifies the end of evil in the universe.

This song in praise of Asia is sung by an unknown voice in the air. Perhaps it is the voice of Prometheus who loves Asia. It is a tribute to Asia. Asia is the source of life in Nature. There is such love in Asia’s lips that it lights up the breath which passes through her lips. There is such heat in her smiles, that they warm the cold air. The cold air becomes warm in the fire of Asia’s smiles. Asia’s smiles are so bright and lovely that nobody can endure their brightness and loveliness. Therefore, she is asked to screen or conceal her smiles in her eyes. Her eyes are like intricate and bewildering paths. By looking into her eyes, a man would get lost and feel dazed.

 Asia is called the Child of Light and she is very bright and shining. Asia is so bright that rays of light seem to be emanating from her body. Her body seems to be burning. Even her clothes cannot hide the radiance of her body. The brightness of her body is visible through her clothes just as the brightness of dawn becomes visible through clouds before the clouds are parted by the sun. Wherever bright Asia may go, she is surrounded by this heavenly atmosphere. She is a divine Spirit enveloped in heavenly light.

There are other fair spirits in the universe, but Asia surpasses them all in beauty. Nobody can see Asia, because her splendour dazzles the eyes. Her voice is sweet, soft and gentle like the voice of the fairest of spirits. The glorious melody of her voice seems to be screening her from the sight of others. Everybody is aware of her presence but nobody can see her. Prometheus too feels her presence and is completely lost in her glory, splendour and divine beauty.

Asia is regarded as the lamp, that sheds its light on the earth. Wherever she goes, her beauty and brightness illumine the dark objects on the earth. Those, whom Asia loves are very fortunate. Because of the power of her love, their souls are enabled to walk lightly upon the breezes. Those souls can walk upon the breezes till, in the end, they collapse just as the speaker (Prometheus) is about to collapse.

The speaker is feeling giddy or confused because of the dazzling beauty of Asia and because of the intoxication of his love for her. In spite of that, to be in love with Asia is in itself a matter of pride. Though the lover is lost in his profound love for her, he does not complain or grumble.