39 pages • 1 hour read
Percy Bysshe ShelleyA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
There are numerous references throughout the poem either to circles specifically or to cyclical processes. For example, Line 57 describes how the power of sleep “circles” an individual. Line 126 also references the “circling air.” A circle consists of a single line with no beginning and no end. It is continuous and perpetual. Even when circles are not specifically stated, there are allusions made to the cycle of life itself as it moves along its circular, endless path. This circle of birth, death, and rejuvenation is essential to all ecosystems: “The cycle of life starts at birth—new life—and travels through periods of growth until death and decay. This natural cycle exists in plants, humans, and animals. Microbes break down organic matter into the building blocks of life, so they are available for rebirth and regrowth” (“The Cycle of Life." microbz, 2022.). In Shelley’s poem, Line 95 specifically evokes this cycle as well, as the speaker describes how all things “[a]re born and die; revolve, subside, and swell.” This cycle is essential to allow the universe to continue into “deep eternity” (Line 29).
By Percy Bysshe Shelley
A Defence of Poetry
Percy Bysshe Shelley
Adonais
Percy Bysshe Shelley
Alastor; or, The Spirit of Solitude
Percy Bysshe Shelley
Mutability
Percy Bysshe Shelley
Ode to the West Wind
Percy Bysshe Shelley
Ozymandias
Percy Bysshe Shelley
Prometheus Unbound
Percy Bysshe Shelley
Queen Mab: A Philosophical Poem
Percy Bysshe Shelley
The Masque of Anarchy
Percy Bysshe Shelley
The Triumph of Life
Percy Bysshe Shelley
To a Skylark
Percy Bysshe Shelley