A ST U D Y ’ T N B D SH E L L EY S PROM E H E U S U O U N . W I L L I A M I 'H A E L R M O SS ETTI . 4101111011 FO R P R IVA T E 'IR 'U L A n oN , M D '''L '''V I. S H E L L E Y ’S P R O M E T H E U S U N B O U N D , A S T U D Y O F IT S E A N IN ' A N D P E R N A E S M S O ' . W I L L I A M M R O E T T I . S S . 1 01111011 P R IN T E D FO R P R I VA T E D IS T R IB U T 'O ZV. 88 6 1 . ’ SH E L L E Y S P R OM E TH E U S U N B OU N D . y F IT S A I ' A N D A E S A STUD O ME N N PERSO N ' . B Y WIL L IA M R O S E T T I M . S . Being a L E 'T U R E de l iv ered to flee S H E L L E Y S O 'IE T Y on th D e cembe r 1 886 7 , . L A D IE S A N D N N GE TLEME , I have undertaken to deliver to the members of the Shelley Society a lecture constituting a study of our ’ me /z s bou n P ro t eu U n d. poet s most colossal performance , the I This is , am fully aware, a task which might well appall the boldest of S he ll e yite s : nor do I undertake it with a c light heart , or with any idea of rendering adequate j usti e — to it from any point of view still less from all the po ints of view which might properly be taken . It would be P rometb eus n bound— I possible to consider the U , in its 2 essential meaning or main outline and purport ' , as a poem and work of art 'and 3 , in detail , or the individual significance and value of its successive passages . I can m only expect , in the short space at y disposal, to treat the —21a its drama in the first of these relations , in essential m meaning or ain outli ne and purport 'in other words, I will explain to you what I regard as having been Shelley’ s intention in the substance and structure of his masterpiece, ' P me the us fl O oz ma ro U . the My interpretation may be right , or it may be wrong it will certainly fall very far short v of being final or exhausti e . It is at any rate the out f come o repeated readings and prolonged consideration . I might add that this is by no means the first time that I have put into writing , or into print , my view of the meaning 8 Y ’S P R O M E T H E U S N SHELLE U BOUND. o f the poem but it is the first time that I have done so m with any oderate degree of fullness or precision , and with the opportunity of quoting from the poem itself those passages upon which the interpretation has to rely for its stability—what the French call the Without further preface , I will now come to close P rome Z/ze us U n bou nd quarters with ' and , asking you to bear in m ind what I have just said— that I deal only with its essential meaning or main outline and purport—I shall —I analyse this meaning under five principal heads , What sk e l e is the Myth , or 'as we might call it) the vertebrated o f P rome t/zeus U n bound 2 ton , the ' , Who is Prometheus ' Who 3 , Who is Asia 4, is Jupiter 5 , Who is Demogorgon . And I , as to the Myth . In P romet/ze us U n bou nd debating the Myth of , I shall leave entirely on one side the question as to what is the primary Greek myth about Prometheus the son of Iapetus . : E sch l us H e m ust take care of himself and y , or any other b un poet or promulgator of that myth , must take care of m /z . P ro et us self With Shelley alone , and his creation the e bound n o w U n . , can I be concerned He voluntarily and fE sch l us determinately parted company with y , saying i n his preface that he was averse from a catastrophe so feeble as that of reconciling the Champion with the ' Oppressor of mankind . The general myth of P rometb eus U n bou n d is set forth 2 very definitely in a leading speech of Asia in Act . I in exte nso will read it , and afterwards consider in detail its terms and bearing . r h There was the Heaven and Ea t at first , A n d u h Light and Love then Sat rn , from whose t rone u . uc Time fell , an envio s shadow S h the state Of the earth’s primal spirits beneath his sway As the calm joy of flowers and living leaves th Before the wind or sun has wi ered them, l A nd semivita worms . But he refused b h h The irthrig t of t eir being, knowledge , power, l t t u t The skill which wie ds the elements , he ho gh ch r l Whi pie ces this dim universe like ight, - r l Self empi e , and the majesty of ove r r h t r Fo thi st of w ich hey fainted . Then P ometheus c r r Gave wisdom , whi h is st ength , to Jupite , t l r ’ And , wi h this law a one Let man be f ee , t Clothed him wi h the dominion of wide Heaven . ’ SHELLE Y S PRO ME THE US U N B O UND . ith l l b To know nor fa nor ove nor aw, to e t ut ri t r . Omni poten b f endless, is o eign And Jove now reigned for on the race of Man F t t t irst famine, and hen oil , and hen disease, t t t u S rife, wounds, and ghas ly dea h nseen before, F t r ell and he unseasonable seasons d ove, l t t r t r With a terna ing shaf s of f os and fi e, Their shelterless pale tribes to mountain - caves t r r t And in hei desert hearts fie ce wan s he sent, u tu ’ And mad disq ie des , and shadows idle n r c t l Of u eal good , whi h levied mu ua war, ru t r t So ining he lair whe ein hey raged . r t u h s P ome he s saw , and waked the legioned ope c f e l fl Whi h sleep within olded sian owers , N t r t ade l e ss epen he , moly, ama an h , blooms , That they might hide with thin and rainbow wings The shape of Death and Love he sent to bind The disunited tendrils of that vine \Vhich i h bears the w ne of life, the human eart ' fire — c t And he tamed , whi h , like some beas of prey t r Most e rible but lovely, played beneath r r re l The f own of man , and to tu d to his wil r I on and gold , the slaves and signs of Power, t t And gems and poisons , and all sub les forms t t Hidden benea h the moun ains and the waves . c r t u h He gave Man spee h , and speech c ea ed tho g t , Which is the measure of the universe i ce t r And sc en struck he th ones of earth and heaven , Which shook but fell not and the harmonious mind Poured itself forth in all - prophetic song c i t th t r t And musi l f ed up e lis ening spi i , U l i x r t l nti t walked, e empt f om mor a care, ’ r l Godlike , o e the clear bil ows of sweet sound u c And h man hands first mimi ked , and then mocked b r t t With moulded lim s mo e lovely han i s own, m ll r r i The human for , ti ma ble g ew div ne, z r And mothers , ga ing, d ank the love men see R fl t r r c b i e ec ed in thei a e , ehold , and per sh . t t r He old he hidden powe of herbs and springs , A n d r r l 1k l e . Disease d ank and slept . Death g ew s eep He taught the implicated orbits woven Of the wide - wandering Stars and how the Sun l r Changes his air, and by what sec et spell The pale Moon is transformed when her broad eye z t t r u r Ga es no on he inte l na sea .