Kachur 1

Brian Kachur

Megan Torti

English 124-001

27 March 2018

Percy Bysshe Shelley and Religion in ​Hymn to Intellectual Beauty

Hymn to Intellectual Beauty​ by Percy Bysshe Shelley is a well-known work of

Romantic-Era poetry. In the work, Shelley explains his views on the phenomenon of something

called Intellectual Beauty, which initially is described vaguely as an unseen power in nature that

affects all. The reader does not gain more information about this power until they read further.

Shelley describes this Intellectual Beauty in many contradictory and superfluous ways, but the

general connotation of Intellectual Beauty is natural and religious in its purest form. Those who

study and know about the background of Shelley know that he is a profound and proud atheist,

with much of his literary works having significant atheist influence. It is interesting how a man

with such non-religious beliefs can write a poem with such spiritual and theological themes. I

intend to dissect ​Hymn to Intellectual Beauty​ and uncover the core meaning behind Intellectual

Beauty and, if it is such a divine part of nature, why it was so important to Shelley.

Percy Bysshe Shelley was undoubtedly a proud atheist who wanted the world to know his

controversial beliefs. Biographers and historians alike cite multiple occasions where Shelley, in

hotel entry books and other inscription sites, notes himself as the following: “Atheist. Lover of

humanity. Democrat.”. Shelley was not only a non-believer but also was against religion and its

use in politics, believing it was “the principle prop for the tyrannical political order”

(Henderson). Because of his vocalization of these opinions, Shelley was often criticized and
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ridiculed. His 1811 book ​The Necessity of Atheism ​resulted in his swift expulsion from Oxford

(Henderson). Regardless of what negative attention he brought upon himself, Shelley was an

open and proud atheist, and his philosophy of such views are at the heart of his poetry. With this

information in mind, one can clearly see the sharp contrast in style and theme of his ​Hymn to

Intellectual Beauty​, containing many references to God, religion and spirituality.

Something that instantly sticks out as a religious reference in this poem is right in the

title. The poem is called ​Hymn to Intellectual Beauty​, and a hymn is most commonly known as a

song of religious praise. Being an atheist, it is unlikely that Intellectual Beauty is somehow

related to God or any specific religion. This leads me to believe that Shelley believes so strongly

in Intellectual Beauty that he almost treats it as a type of religion or something he can put faith

in. Shelley compares Intellectual Beauty to nature throughout the poem, so it seems likely that

this can be viewed as Shelley putting his faith in nature itself.

This connection between nature and the spiritual force that it holds towards Shelley can

be seen in the first stanza, in line 1, “The awful shadow of some unseen Power”. Power is

capitalized, giving a notion of formality in a sense just as the word God is capitalized when being

used as a proper noun. This choice was deliberate to immediately begin referring to Intellectual

Beauty as a specific force that is divine in some way. This force is also directly related to nature

in the first stanza, “visiting / this various world with as inconstant wing / As summer winds that

creep from flower to flower.– / Like moonbeams that behind some piny mountain shower,”

(2-5). Because these statements are made within the first five lines, Shelley is trying to solidify

Intellectual Beauty’s importance as a higher natural force, and he values it so much because he

does not put his faith in anything else.

More religious references can be found in the second stanza when Shelley discusses the

meeting of the Spirit of Beauty. He is obviously talking about Intellectual Beauty as if it were

materialized into a physical form, that of a spirit. This addressing of Intellectual Beauty as a

spirit already bears spiritual and other-worldly qualities. Specifically, Shelley states “Spirit of

Beauty, that dost consecrate / With thine own hues all thou dost shine upon / Of human thought

or form,–where art thou gone?” (13-15). Stating that the Spirit of Beauty is a being that

consecrates, or makes things sacred, gives clear religious connotation to this idea of Intellectual

Beauty, and further gives a divine quality to Intellectual Beauty itself. This dialogue that Shelley

directs towards the spirit explores his direct interaction with this idea of Intellectual Beauty as a

religion. Shelley’s questioning of the Spirit almost serves as a calling out or prayer towards God,

in this case, Intellectual Beauty serving as his idea of God. This again leads to Shelley’s faith

being put in the idea of Intellectual Beauty because he has nowhere else to place his faith.

The third stanza further develops Shelley’s internal relationship of Intellectual Beauty

and religion, but this time from a darker, negative standpoint. A quote directly at the beginning

of the third stanza directly explains part of Shelley’s reasoning for being atheist, “No voice from

some sublimer world hath ever / To sage or poet these responses given– / Therefore the name of

God and ghosts and Heaven, / Remain the records of their vain endeavour,” (25-28). This “vain

endeavour” is the act of trying to answer the unanswerable questions of the world and the human

condition. Shelley states in this quote that the result of trying to answer these questions is the

idea of God and religion that people have put their faith in for so long. Obviously, Shelley does

not agree with this result at all. He clearly believes that this idea of Intellectual Beauty is a better

place to put his faith, as he continues to explore this throughout the rest of the poem.
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Shelley then discusses the idea of “frail spells”, which is stated in lines 29-31 in the

following quote: “Frail spells–whose uttered charm might not avail to sever, / From all we hear

and all we see, / Doubt, chance, and mutability”. Spells is most likely a reference to witchcraft,

which is strictly banned from the religion of Christianity. This quote leads one to believe that

Shelley finds the idea of spells and witchcraft to be negative as they don’t fully answer these

impossible questions either. Though, this statement is interesting as Shelley would probably not

be so against witchcraft as he is atheist. He follows up with “Thy light alone– like mist o’er

mountains driven, / … / Gives grace and truth to life’s unquiet dream” (32-36). This further

drives home the point that putting faith into something is what helps people understand these

questions of the human condition, but he clearly does not believe that Christian faith and God are

the way to find these answers.

In stanza five, Shelley tells an anecdote about an experience he had as a young child with

Intellectual Beauty. He searched in caves looking for ghosts and trying to summon spirits, a clear

indication of Shelley’s initial experimentation with witchcraft and conjuring. In lines 53-54, he

writes, “I called on poisonous names with which our youth is fed; / I was not heard–I saw them

not–”. While Shelley may have taken part in various exercises of witchcraft, it is clear that he

was impatient and skeptical about how much of the practice is reality, further demonstrating his

atheist beliefs.

Interestingly, the poem continues and a contrast in Shelley’s anecdote occurs, “Sudden,

thy shadow fell on me; / I shrieked, and clasped my hands in extacy!” (59-60). In this moment,

Shelley clearly has an encounter with some powerful outside force that makes him question the

world around him. He places the blame on “a ghost” that he references as possibly being
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Intellectual Beauty. Though, one possible theory of this anecdote could be that Shelley actually

had some kind of unexplainable, holy encountering that he labels as an interaction with

Intellectual Beauty because he does not want to believe that he had an encounter with some

legitimate religious figure such as God. This could be a possible theory as for the premise of the

entire poem: a way for Shelley to express his struggle of coming to terms with his religious faith

and beliefs, through finding comfort in sticking with the idea of Intellectual Beauty as the outside

force to which he gives credit for all the otherworldly experiences he has had.

The opening of stanza six is where the reader learns of Shelley’s true devotion to this idea

of Intellectual Beauty. He writes, “I vowed that I would dedicate my powers / To thee and

thine–have I not kept the vow?” (61-62). These lines show Shelley’s unwavering devotion to his

faith of Intellectual Beauty, and gives the sense that Shelley is almost speaking out to Intellectual

Beauty itself in this moment. Though, Shelley’s reasoning for his devotion to Intellectual Beauty

is still unclear, until we reach the end of the sixth stanza. This final quote of the stanza is very

important, “Unlinked with hope that thou wouldst free / This world from its dark slavery, / That

thou–O awful Loveliness, / Wouldst give whate’er these words cannot express,” (69-72). These

lines prove that Shelley views Intellectual Beauty as an entity that can help to relieve his

sufferings from the natural world that he experiences every day, much like Christians and those

of other religions view their religions to do. “O awful Loveliness” is how Shelley refers to

Intellectual Beauty, in a romantic and almost glorifying way. This further implies the symbolism

between Intellectual Beauty and the God-like symbolism that Shelley portrays through it. Shelley

views his experience of “meeting” Intellectual Beauty as a child as a major awakening for him

spiritually, and though he does not believe in the traditional faiths of Christianity or other
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religions, he finds comfort through placing his faith in something he has actually experienced.

This is reasoning for why Shelley maintains his atheist views while simultaneously putting his

faith in a different kind of “religion”.

Stanza seven finally illustrates Intellectual Beauty’s true purpose and connection with

nature. Shelley writes, “Thus let thy power, which like the truth / Of nature on my passive youth

/ Descended, to my onward life supply / Its calm–to one who worships thee, / And every form

containing thee,” (78-82). Shelley gives credit to the power of Intellectual Beauty as what

brought him to a more focused place following his passive days as a child. Religion often helps

fuel the desire and hope of those who follow it, so it seems that Intellectual Beauty does the same

for Shelley, despite his strong atheist and skeptical views. The end of this quote truly

demonstrates Shelley’s pure devotion of the idea of Intellectual Beauty by using the term

“worship” and speaking about “every form containing thee”. Shelley also clearly treats

Intellectual Beauty as a God, as the final lines state, “Whom, Spirit fair, thy spells did bind / To

fear himself, and love all human kind” (83-84). This is Shelley speaking to the Spirit of

Intellectual Beauty again, stating that he “loves all human kind”. In Christianity it is always

taught that God loves everyone, so in this sense Shelley is giving a side by side comparison

between Intellectual Beauty and the idea of God that is taught in most religions.

It is clear that Percy Bysshe Shelley has strong atheist views. Though the poem ​Hymn to

Intellectual Beauty​ defies this knowledge as the poem contains many religious themes and

references. After analyzing this poem, it is clear that Shelley’s description of Intellectual Beauty

is a surrogate religion that he puts his faith into rather than following a traditional faith such as

Christianity. The specific references and word choice reflects his deep devotion to this idea of
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Intellectual Beauty. Shelley tries to convey his appreciation for Intellectual Beauty just as if he

were speaking about God. While ​Hymn to Intellectual Beauty​ may not be one of Shelley’s best

or most-known works, it remains as an important reminder that he does follow religion in some

way, even if it is one that he follows alone.

Works Cited

Henderson, Graham. “Percy Bysshe Shelley: ‘Atheist. Lover of Humanity. Democrat’.” ​The

Wordsworth Trust​, 25 July 2016,

wordsworth.org.uk/blog/2016/07/25/percy-bysshe-shelle

y-atheist-lover-of-humanity-democrat/.

Shelley, Percy Bysshe. “Hymn to Intellectual Beauty.” ​The Norton Anthology of English

Literature, Volume D: The Romantic Period, Ninth Edition​, edited by Deidre Shauna

Lynch and Jack Stillinger, 2012, pp. 773-775.