Mutability. Percy Bysshe Shelley and the Insignificance of Humanity

Essay from the year 2014 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, grade: 65.0, University of Sheffield, course: English Literature, language: English, abstract: 'Mutability' employs traditional conventions of the Lyric poem as it is 'brief and discontinuous, emphasising sound and pictorial imagery rather than narrative', in order to present the concept of life as ephemeral. Shelley is a poet shaped by the sense 'that there are narrow limits to what human beings can know with certainty.' 'Mutability' reflects this notion as Shelley undermines human importance within a world in which nothing is constant. In his 'A Defence of Poetry' he argues that for man to be 'greatly good...the pains and pleasures of his species must become his own' and therefore this essay shall consider the way Shelley uses 'Mutability' in order to educate readers on humanities fleeting and irrelevant nature.