The Big Stone post. (Big Stone Gap, Va.) 1890-1892, 1891-01-23


lively considered, therefore. ii admitted OF
but few problems. Contesscdly. with the
exception Of the causes OF his separation
from his first wife. the public have been in
possession of ali the important points OF his
career for fifty years. The poet family and
descendants have announced that there
remain still unpublished documents that
will clear his memory of blame in the
matter Just referred to. We are not OF
those. however. who anticipate that any
fresh disclosures will ever he make that
will materially affect the judgment of i'm
partial men on the character and deeds OF
unhappy Shelley The evidence. we think,
on which that Judgment must be made up,
is substantially all in, and fair epitome
OIL is presented, in an entertaining form,
in this volume. Such arc the merits OF
the book.
No poet has We, been happier than Shell
ley in respect to the stage Of the general
movement al which he was born: nor
more unhappy in respect to the special
age and circumstances in which his lot
was cast. The first OF these propositions
is proved by the magnificent sweep and
variety OF his powers, his exquisite deli
cacy, his unriyalled ideaity. The
Cenci - is generally admitted to be the
greatest drama since Shakespeare; set it
was not produced until the dramatic age
Of our civilization had been gone by two
hundred wears. What could not the man
have done in this line if he had lived in
the dramatic age: His lyrics, taking
into account their number and variety.
arc the most splendid that have yet been
written. The Revolt of Islam while
not dsiinctivcly epic in its present form,
NAV be taken a al indication of what lis
author could have accomplished in the
epic age. The second proposition is
proved bv the absence Of any single great
and inspiring theme in Sheliey'- poems.
and also rs the iamcntablc facts OF his
biography. Milton, born almost $50 hun
dred wears earlier. had expressed ile fear
that lie had been :" born iii an age TOO
late" III Shelley's case the evil was
vastly aggravated. because. not only had
there been great consumption OF poetic
inspiration and material between Milton 5
day and his, but. what was infinitely
worse, he was born in al age when the
movement of our race had begun to tYct
against the walls OF restraint and au-
thority that enclosed ii. In such IN age,
the poet, ohcying OF necessity the impulse
Of The movement OF the race. in which he
literally moves and has his being, finds
himself bruised and broken against bar
riers between which, AT an earlier age, lie
would have been borne without collision
and in triumph. But in all the history Of
literature there is not another so conspic-
uous ard melancholy instance OF poet
wrecked and crushed between society on
the one side ANA the impulse OF his own
inspiration on the other, as poor Shelley
affords
II is useless TO attempt any defense OF
Shelicy's mad warfare against society.
None can lie made. The mistakes which
The MAXI made here. with the best possible
Intentions, were absolutely shocking
and the worst of it is. that they were due
not simply 10 lack Of understanding but
to lack OF insight. \ man controlled by
the dictates OF She understanding would
have been kept from them by considcra-
lions Of policy: Is man OF deeper ard ad
cnuatc insight would have perceived that
nature never sloughs an existing form OF
society or relation until she is ready to
replace il with higher and purcr form.
Ii. therefore. ShellcY had been able to
pierce through Its intcgUmcnts, 10 the
heart of the universal movement, whereof
the movement OF the race is part, he
would have seen that. while the new is
ever growing bcncath the Old. the cid is
the shield and protection of the new; and
while lie must, by The Law Of his being,
still have been the servant Of the new. he
would have served it III wisdom. in tran
guilty and in victory. instead of Il Wild
carnival OF half French and half demo-
MAC iconoclasm We write this. admit
ting what we have long been convinced
of, that SEclcy'i powers and inspiration
were the erandest that have been wit
messed since Milton and Shakespeare.
Bus he must have been more than human,
if living when &c did, in the wild tnr-
moil OF riot, passion, impotence and rev
dictionary frcnzy--in az age wherein Ma
pcieon Bonapartc was possible-hc had
struck to the proper depth III the nature
of things, and blessed the world witIi Sc
rene, creative and undying thought.
Therefore have wc said that, being man,
he was the victim OF his ;,ge, and = sad
sacrifice.
More than this. there are CERTAIN por-
tons of his personal conduct that should
he unsparingly condemned. His dcsertion
of his first wife, and elopcmcnt with Mary
Goodwin, was terrible crime. The excuses
that are offered for it serve only to in
crease lis Nervousness. Ii he dcspised
the hollow form of marriage. BIZ 50 much
the more was lie under obligation TO re-
we're its profound spiritual relations.
Shclley's crime was that in trampling on
the form he t:aInplcd also on the sub
stance: in splitting on the ceremony, he
spat also on the mystery. II there had
been anything in his conduct to show that
he distinguished between mummcry and
sacrament, or that he was seeking to
clothe the holiicsf OF all earthly relations
with pure vestment, ne might have been
n leader and teacher of his race; bat, un-
fortunately, it is hut too apparent that his
highest conception of the love Of the
sexes was mere mixture of passion and
@stheticism. Since he proved his inca
pacity to rise to any higher ground than
this, his outrage upon established forms
deserves the most mercilcss excoriation.
We arc not of those who agree in the
opinion SO often expressed, and repeated
by this biographer that if Byron and
Shelley had lived longer, they must have
entered into pnFeF sphere and rounded
out noble md beneticient maturity. The
example of Goethe, which is constantly
cited in proof Of this optimistic view, is