Short Summary of Hymn to Intellectual Beauty l Hymn to Intellectual Beauty Critical Analysis l Ma English Part l & ll Notes

Strange forces move over the globe in the shadows, entering human beings and appearing and disappearing in a haphazard fashion. Shelley wonders where this shadow, which he refers to as a "Spirit of Beauty," has vanished, and why it has left us feeling alone and abandoned. Then he acknowledges that it is pointless to ask this question; one might just as well inquire as to why rainbows disappear or why man can be both kind and hateful, despairing and hopeful at the same time. There has never been a response to these questions from an extraterrestrial being. It is the "names of Demon, Ghost, and Heaven" that serve as a record of men's fruitless attempts at obtaining answers to such questions. There is only one light that can bring elegance and truth to the restless dream that is life: the light of the Spirit of Beauty. If the Spirit of Beauty remained with a man for the rest of his life, he would be immortal and strong. It provides food for human thought. The poet implores this soul not to go from the earth's surface. Death would be a feared occurrence if it didn't have this protection.

In his childhood, Shelley sought spiritual reality in the form of ghosts and the spirits of the dead. At one point during his search, the Spirit of Beauty's shadow unexpectedly fell on his body, filling him with pleasure. He made a commitment to this Spirit that he would dedicate his life to him, and he has kept his word. He is certain that it will free the world from the state of slavery in which it now finds itself. Because he reveres this energy, he prays that it would bring him serenity in his daily activities. It taught him to be fearful and to love all of mankind at the same time.

Hymn to Intellectual Beauty Critical Analysis

In June 1816, the Hymn to intellectual beauty was originally created and written on a boat ride with Byron on Lake Geneva, Switzerland. The beauty of the lake and of the Swiss Alps makes Shelley the "intellectual beauty" universal rule.

The alpine scenery of Shelley was fresh and very beautiful. Shelley's poem was made under the feelings and emotions that have disturbed him in his youth," he wrote to Leigh Hunt. Thanks to the Alps, the Christian Shelley finally found a deity he could adore fully. Beauty is something that Shelley has adopted as religion, that is why he termed his poem a hymn, a phrase almost exclusively employed in religious poems. Subsequently, during the August 1817 Symposium, Shelley was certainly improved by Plato's lecture on abstract beauty in this book and in Phaedrus in August 1818, and his confidence in beauty. It was with incredible beauty, not Plato, that brought Shelley to his new faith every day. Joseph Barrell, a student in ideological history, shows in his Shelley and the Thought of His Time that the hymn is not Platonic.

The fundamental concept of the Intellectual Beauty Hymn is that there is a Spiritual strength which is both the human heart and physical. This force is unknown to people and unseen, but its shadow is visitable "this varied universe, with a wing as inconstant as in the breezes of the summer, that flows from flower to floor," and also visits "with a blind eye / every heart and face." It's still distant and unattainable. In Stanza V, Shelley acknowledges that as a kid, the shadow of intellectual beauty had suddenly fallen on him while he was searching for a spiritual world (primarily reading Gothic novels, it would appear), whereas the Spirit of Beauty was in quest of the Spirit of Beauty. He shouted and gripped his fists ecstatically. Following this meeting, he promised us in Stanza VI that he would dedicate his power to you and yours, and his promise was fulfilled. The meeting also gave him the faith that the Spirit of Beauty will free "this planet from the gloom of bondage." In this poem, Shelley seems to blend two major loves of his life, love of beauty and love of freedom.

Concerning the "intellectual beauty" of the title, Barrell reminds out why this implies a method that uses mental skills. However, Shelley probably meant his idea of beauty is abstract and not tactile. His attitude is romantic and passionate. But Shelley appears to understand that his spirit of beauty is personal, like the Christian God. He approaches it, pleads, loves it, but only the language of the embodiment may be employed.

The Hymn to intellectual beauty is more astounding than the artwork for what it reveals us about Shelley. At the core, Shelley was philosophical and no materialism could attract him more than momentarily.

Video Lecture: Hymn to Intellectual Beauty