A Defence of Poetry (Masterplots, Revised Second Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Percy Bysshe Shelley
- First Published: 1840
- Type of Work: Essay
- Genres: Criticism, Nonfiction, Essays
- Subjects: Nineteenth century, Literature, Poetry or poets, England or English people, Romanticism
Critical Evaluation:
Readers familiar with other great “defenses” of poetry may find Percy Bysshe Shelley’s A Defence of Poetry unusual, even confusing. There is little practical analysis of the elements of good literary work. There is no methodical history of poetry, as one reads in Sir Philip Sidney’s Defence of Poesie (1595). There are no pronouncements about rules of composition. Instead, Shelley offers a philosophical analysis of the role of the poet as a special kind of person, one who can see the essential harmonies of the world beneath the...
[The entire page is 2176 words long]
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