Shelley Poem Rediscovered

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Art and Resistance

=By= Gaither Stewart & Rowan Wolf

A poem that had been misplaced and presumably lost for almost two centureis has surfaced. It is “A Poetical Essay on the Existing State of Things” by Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822), published in 1811. In it Sheely express his outrage at “the existing state of things” – most particularly the Napoleonic War, and the poverty extant in Britain.  As Matilda Battersby of The Independent states:

The 172 line poem by the romantic poet expresses his outrage at the government, the Napoleonic war and the state of poverty in Britain among other things.

All copies were believed to have been destroyed after Shelley was kicked out of Oxford University – where he was an undergraduate — not long after it was written.

However, it turns out that Shelley gave one copy of the poem, which was published as a 10-page pamphlet, to his cousin Pilfold Medwin who took it to Italy.

It remained in a family collection for nearly two centuries before being bought in 2006 by an enthusiast who kept its contents firmly hidden and only allowed a handful of academics access.

Now the poem is set to go on public display back in Oxford where it was written, at the world famous Bodleian Library, where it will become the 12 millionth printed book in the collection.

Particularly gripping is the conclusion of the poem which reads:

Man must assert his native rights, must say

We take from Monarchs’ hand the granted sway;

Oppressive law no more shall power retain,

Peace, love, and concord, once shall rule again,

And heal the anguish of a suffering world;

Then, then shall things, which now confusedly hurled,

Seem Chaos, be resolved to order’s sway,

And errors night be turned to virtue’s day.—

Poetical Essay on the Existing State of Things

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