Triumph of life- By P.B. Shelley
Triumph of life- By P.B. Shelley
“The Triumph of Life” unfinished when he died on July 8, 1822, when his boat Don Juan capsized. Shelley had written part of the poem while sailing in this very same boat. Published by Mrs. Shelley in the "Posthumous Poems" of 1824
terza rima, an Italian verse form used by Dante in the Divine Comedy, and by Petrarch in his Trionfi (Triumphs). ) that the terza rima is a special case of a triplet with the interlocking rhyme scheme aba-bcb-cdc-ded-efe. ‘Terza rima’ (A ‘Terza rima’ consists of stanzas of three lines usually in iambic pentameter- it follows an interlocking rhyming scheme or chain rhyme)
The poem also takes its name from poems of the medieval poet Petrarch called Trionfi. This word is from the Latin triumphus, referring to the ceremonial entrance of a victorious general into ancient Rome
This grim figure is none other than Jean-Jacques Rousseau, a French philosopher, writer, and political theorist whose writings inspired the French Revolution and influenced the Romantic writers.
The 'triumph' in the title of Shelley's poem stands also for triumphal procession as in Petrarch's Trionj or Triumphs which is a sequence of seven poems celebrating the victory of Love over Man, Chastity over Love, Death over Chastity, Fame over Death, Time over Fame and God over Time.
Lines 1–40. Introduction: The narrator introduces himself, explains that his untold personal crisis must "remain untold", and describes the dream Vision.
Lines 41–175. The visionary triumphal pageant is described.
Lines 176–295. Jean-Jacques Rousseau identifies figures and warns against inaction.
Lines 296–543. Rousseau's own story is related in allegories.
Lines 544–548. "What is Life?" he asks.
7 - Orison = a prayer
8 - A Matin is a service in the Church of England
9 - A censer is a vessel in which incense is burned.
25 - athwart = sloping position
26 - Locate the Appenine mountain range south of the Po valley on the map of the Italian peninsula.
42-Tenour - a singing voice between baritone and alto or countertenor, the highest of the ordinary adult male range.
46-Gnats - a small two-winged fly that resembles a mosquito. Gnats include both biting and non-biting forms, and they typically form large swarms.
51-Bier-A bier is a table-like movable fan.
78 - Mary Shelley had filled the gap left in the text of the posm by her husband with 'blinding'.
83-Herald - an official employed to oversee state ceremonial, precedence, and the use of armorial bearings, and (historically) to make proclamations, carry official messages, and oversee tournaments.
85 - The crescent new moon is seen as a ~nariot in which is seated the shadow of the moon.
91 - Mourners wear black material qr crape on their clothes,
92 - dun = dark
116-yoke-collar
121 - Age refers to a historical period, an era.
128-136 - The 'sacred few ... of Athens and Jerusalem Are' obviously Socrates and Jesus Christ.
132-Diadem-Headband or crown
155 - Vlae=valley
155- Impale - drive, force, or urge (someone) to do something
180 - Tile 'voice' in this line refers to Rousseau just as in line 190 the grim Feature' refers to him. Milton described Deatli in Pnmdise Lost (Book X, line 279) as a 'grim Feature'. .
189-forbear=politely or patiently restrain an impulse to do something; refrain.
197-Stagger=walk or move unsteadily, as if about to fall.
210 - A mitre is a tall pointed hat worn by priests of high rank such as bishops and archbishops on ceremonial occasions. - A helm is an old use of helmet. In the old phrase 'at the helm' (or the person at the top ) refers to the man at the tiller - a long handle fastened to the top end of a small boat's rudder so that it can be turned easily.
210 - A mitre is a tall pointed hat worn by priests of high rank such as bisl~ops and archbishops on ceremonial occasions. - A helm is an old use of helmet. In the old phrase 'at the helm' (or the person at the top ) refers to the man at the tiller - a long handle fastened to the top end of a small boat's rudder so that it can be turned easily.
215 Napoleon Bonaparte is described.
237 - demagogue- a political leader who seeks support by appealing to the desires and prejudices of ordinary people rather than by using rational argument.
253- phantom - ghost
270 - Francis Bacon (156 1-1626) discussed in his The Wisdom of the I Ancients, the myth of Proteus as an allegory of physical matter and its transformation.
274 - Tn the place of bards of old' Shelley had written, in a cancelled draft of the poem, 'Homer & his brethren.'
286-sceptre-an ornamented staff carried by rulers on ceremonial occasions as a symbol of sovereignty.
288 - While John was the name most commonly adopted by the popes, Gregory VII (Hildebrand) is singled out by Shelley because he established the temporal powers of the papacy, apart from its spiritual.
310 - clime -a region considered with reference to its climate.
314 -rivulet- a small stream of water or another liquid.
323 - eventide - the end of the day; evening.
324 - dispossest - deprive (someone) of land, property, or other possessions.
331 - To be oblivious of something is to be unmindful or forgetful of it: In poetry, however, the word is used in the sense of, 'of or inducing oblivion'. Rousseau's account of his life in this poem is modelled partly on his Confessions and partly on Wordsworth's Intimations of Immortality.
345-46 - The sun, here, is symbol of the deity. It is reflected from water which is symbol of mortality. Shelley shows us the play of life and death, immortality and mortality
352 - Critics agree that 'A shape all light' in this line represents human creativity. It is like the sun in glory because we see things as much in the light of our imagination as in the light of common day.
357 - In Greek mythology Iris is the goddess who acts like the messenger of the gods. She displays the rainbow as her sign.
359 - Nepenthe, mentioned in Homer's The Odyssey, is an Egyptian drug whioh has the power to banish pain, anger and sorrow. Helen of Troy gives it to Telernachus (in The Odyssey, IV), Shelley's immediate source could be Milton's Comus, in which the character of that name, who is son of Circe, the daughter of the Sun, offers an ' orient liquor in a Crystal glasse' which is greater than 'Nepenthes', in order to seduce them. line
361 ' - Shelley's use of the word palm here, as in Adonais and Prometheus .Unbound, for the 'sole' of the foot is quite without precedent, In Adonafs Shelley has, .
367 - enamoured -to be filled with love
367 - Upborne - held up; supported
372 - amethyst - a precious stone consisting of a violet or purple variety of quartz.
414 - Lucifer is light-bringer. In Shelley's poetry it refers always to the planet Venus, the evening and morning star. Chrysolite is aname given to precious olivine, a pale yellowish green silicate of magnesia and iron.
419 - The star refers to Venus, the morning and evening star.
420 - The Jonquil is a type of sweet smelling flower of the Narcissus family
438 - extol - to praise highly
442 - aetherial - The definition of aethereal is something that is fragile, or something that is light and airy, or something that is from heaven.
439 - 41 : A pavilion, as you know, is a large, light ornamental building used for exhibitions or public amusement. Shelley describes a 'wind-winged pavilion' built by Iris whom we met earlier in this poem. This pavilion, formed like an arch of victory is particoloured in vermilion, green and azure. Besides, the pavilion is progressing ahead of the procession. This arch is the arch of Life. Iris represents Life, its richness, its coloufilness, its joyous variety. Life, like a dome of many-coloured glass, Stains Until death tramples it to fragments. The triplet reminds us of the lines in Adonais.
446 Atomies are motes or grains or particles of dust.
463 - Lethe in Greek mythology is the underworld river in Hades. When one drinks its water one forgets the past. Dante was led through Paradise by his beloved Beatrice.
472-74 the subject is Love which led, Dante - 'of him' - from the 'lowest depths of Hell Through every Paradise and through all glory' aud who returned from there to tell us 'How all things are transfigured, except love'.
481-483 - Shelley scholars agree that the 'phantoms' in this passage are like the simulacra or masks described by Lucretius in De Rerum Nalura (Book IV). Lucretius describes ideas, beliefs, superstitions and passions of men peeling off from them and forming simulacra or masks and floating around in the air.
495-Ermine is the name given to stoat in winter when its fur turns white. Formerly, important people such as kings and judges wore the white fur of this animal. Hence, Ermine stands for the' important people in tht: society.
496 - The Pope wears the tiara ( or tiar ) or triple crown which symbolises his dignity.and sovereignty.
500 - Skeletons are also called anatomies.
505 - The bones of the dead are kept in a charnel house.
530 - The shadows a person gave off were each in some aspect like the person from whom they derived and like one another in some respects,
suzerainty-a superior feudal lord to whom fealty(a feudal tenant’s or vassal's sworn loyalty to a lord.) is due : overlord. 2 : a dominant state controlling the foreign relations of a vassal state but allowing it sovereign authority in its internal affairs.
' . . . Shew whence I came, and where I am, and why - Pass not away upon the passing stream.' 'Arise and quench thy thirst' was her reply,
Ans- The given lines have been taken from P.B.Shelley's (1792-1822) ?'he Triumph of Life (1 822 , published 1824). In his last work, leR unfinished when he died on 8 July 1822, Shelley is trying to understand 'Life'. He describes a 'Vision' in which he encounters Life victorious over all of us. Among those we witness - monarchs and men of letters - is Jean Jacques Rousseau, the Swiss-French thinker who tells him about some of the various personages in the procession of Life. Shelley asks Rousseau, "Whence camest thou and whither goest thou'? How did thy course begin" . . . Rousseau tells him some of the bare facts, but his mind cannot 'compass' the cause of Life - 'Why this should be ...' However, Rousseau asks Shelley to participate in life instead of looking at it from a distance: . .. from spectator turn Actor or victim in this wretchedness, And what thou woulds't be taught I then may learn From thee. We find the same situation being repeated in the given lines. Earlier on Rousseau had asked a similar question to some evanescent deity - 'A shape all light.' 'He had wanted to know where he had come from? Where he was ? and Why he was where he was ? The supernatural visitant had asked him to 'arise' and 'quench' his thirst. This section, i.e, the fourth, is highly allegorical. Shelley describes the lady holding a cup for Rousseau which as soon as he touches with his lips he forgets everything. He goes on to describe-'a new Vision never seen before.' And yet he can tell us little more than that 'the fair shape waned in the coming light.' In brief the question What is Ltfe? remains unanswered. In the fifth section Shelley for the third time witnesses the chariot of Life.
thank you maam, you are doing hard work, amazing
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