The Motif of Death in Percy Bysshe Shelley’s Short Poems

Abstract

In the early 19th century poetic tradition, there was a great emphasis on the poet as the creative genius, and subjectivity was cherished more than ever. As a poet of the Romantic Era, Percy Bysshe Shelley conveyed his emotions, philosophical beliefs, and religious convictions, as well as his fears and motivations, through his literary works. Death was an omnipresent theme in Shelley’s life, and he used poetry as a means to express his thoughts and feelings about it. The passing of those close to him, such as his wife Harriet and children Clara and William, confronted him with his own mortality. He responded to the death of his beloved ones by composing poems. In addition to expressing his grief over these losses, he also voiced the decrease of his life instincts and his death wish. This paper will examine Shelley’s short poems (“Death”, “On Death”, “To William Shelley”, “Stanzas Written in Dejection, near Naples” “Ode to the West Wind,” “To Night,” and “O world! O life! O time!”) through the lens of Sigmund Freud’s concepts of mourning and melancholy, as well as death wish. The chosen autobiographical poems reveal Shelley’s mourning process and his journey towards accepting death, showcasing his death drive, and reflecting his genuine emotions as well as his Neoplatonic philosophy.