Percy Bysshe Shelley on Creativity in "The Defense of Poetry" (1821)
§ 303 It (creativity) transmutes all that it touches, and every form moving within the radiance of its presence is changed by wondrous sympathy to an incarnation of the spirit which it breathes: its secret alchemy turns to potable gold the poisonous waters which flow from death through life; it strips the veil of familiarity from the world, and lays bare the naked and sleeping beauty which is the spirit of its forms.
There is a form to every word you’ve ever heard
As waves through air, or ever seen
As shapes on paper or on a screen,
Or ever felt, as Braille; form makes the unique word.
Look right here at the shape
Of these letters that I am.
Whether I carry meaning or spam,
My form is what I am.
Shapes (or form) embody all things.
It is the form that makes it true.
Decay in forms is what time brings.
Don’t let them go to waste by you.
This rhyme holds many levels of forms,
Each in its own way warms,
The forms of letters, words, and rhymes,
All repeating many times.
All there is has its forms,
All animals, minerals, and plants;
And all of them have their norms
And unique conditions of circumstance.
Plato was first to point out
The great importance of forms
As what it all is about,
That to which its matter conforms.
All is forms of matter in motion
In the giant ocean of space.
There is a notion of a place
Outside of time and space.
Physicists say there's eleven dimensions,
Something no one ever mentions
As we wish upon a star
Sitting in the dark upon park benches.
There is more going on than meets the eye.
Around and through us others fly.
We can’t see them if we try,
Those Spirits nearby.
Spirits in relative motion to us
Do not move and can't be touched.
For God there is “No shadow of turning.”
While all nature goes on churning.
God doesn’t live in time, or change,
And there is no matter in Spirit.
To us this may seem a little strange,
But there is no reason to fear it.
Discrete forms are we, units in motion
In shape to move in good form.
Moving through time with locomotion,
Life moving on is our norm.
Complicated thing, this life we lead.
Relating to reality outside,
Mind, emotion, and will to succeed,
Language is the linchpin of the conscious divide.
Consciousness is separate from all else there is
Where matter and energy form all that goes on,
Except in the minds of hers and his
Whose knowledge and feelings are full grown.
From particles inside of the building block atom
To the extent of the universe throughout outer space
The forms of it all make all that we fathom
Stay organized in space as we move in our place.
All things are directed to do what they do
The same as our wills direct me and you.
Non-life isn’t conscious, knows not what it’s doing;
Atoms don’t know what molecules they're brewing.
As the rest of the world, blindly goes at it,
Consciousness is what lets us divert
From instinctive behavior that’s automatic
And molecule’s behavior, though we’re made of dirt.
Material things of our home and work place
Have useful forms to fulfill every need.
All this matter moving in time in space
Has no fear of failure, no freedom to succeed.
Energy and matter aren't conscious or free,
But do what they’re supposed to according to their form.
We can choose what to do cause we are free.
A free will inside us choosing is our norm.
We choose to build or destroy with our will,
To love or to hate, to run or sit still.
We drive others wild or we help them fulfill
Their lives with goodwill we instill.
The form of our life can be good or be bad.
All gifts are from outside ourselves.
Food and water, all the goods that we've had
Come from outside, like the water from wells.
The forms of all things, make them what they are,
From our heartbeat inside, to the car that we drive,
From tadpole to flagpole, from tar to a star,
It will always be form upon which we thrive.
Ellis
Author notes
I consider this my best work, and I believe every word of what I say in it. --Ellis
Written October 9th, 2005
In a list
A contest entry
- Give Me Something Worth The Time by Valley of Echoes.
300 points, ended May 26, 2006, 15 entries
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest
What did you think
Comments
1 - 17 of 17
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Wise-Wonderful-Profound...
Eighty-eight lines of art, twenty-two stanzas of beauty, knowledge and wisdom... A true bouquet of natural flowers whose petals diffuse scent of learning.
In respect and admiration,
Andre Emmanuel Bendavi ben-YEHU, A.P.G.M.P.
P.S. It is recorded that Poet Percy Bysshe Shelley wrote A DEFENSE OF POETRY at the age of twenty-seven years old.
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AMAZING! I LOVE LOVE LOVE THIS PIECE!
But as always I have my favorites, for some reason this Stanza caught me.
All is forms of matter in motion
In the giant ocean of space.
There is a notion of a place
Outside of time and space.
I Just absolutely love it.
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So much here
This poem covers a lot of material and a great variety of forms - the world can be bewildering in the vast array it presents to our senses. I like
"Consciousness is what lets us divert
From instinctive behavior "
because I tend to agree, human self-awareness is unique on this planet.
Thanks for your reading of my poems which led to my reading this one.
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This is quite a treatise, Ellis, and I enjoyed it very much. I like the distinction between human life and all other kinds of matter, "We choose to build or destroy with our will". With so much power, we must be careful.
Happy New Year! Blessings to you!
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The title "The importance of forms" sounds like a piece by a poetic bureaucrat. You appear to be a more sensitive soul.
The world, nay the universe(s), abounds with a variety of forms and each has its place and purpose. We may not be able to see that purpose but it is there. As to the question of who or what designed these forms, well for me there is no doubt.
You have done well to state your own views and opinions in this interesting format and I congratulate you.
Jim
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True enough ...
and I like the way you've expanded on your premise.
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wonderful !!!
the infinite potentiality of the Formless shines through the abundance of created forms you are constantly offering us through your poetry ...
thank you for sharing your gift ...
maa
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To me, existence, as we know it in this Created World, is made up of all the forms of everything that is here. The awareness of one individual out of the 5 billion here is minuscule. Only for that one is his/her awareness more important than anything else, but this is just as true for each of the other 5 billion individuals, too. The unity of awareness you speak of I see as in God, Creator of this World, whereby those who pass His test here will be united within Him in His World, "Heaven." --Ellis
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"Language is the lynch pin of the conscious divide."
A bit long in "form", as writes go. Where you say you believe in Intelligent Design, I say Intelligence is but a small part of the One Design, perhaps only the the "form' by which ego chooses to make sense of his existence. The line I quote above holds a bit of the difference in how I see things. It is language, names, that make the boundaries of forms, that "divide" consciousness into things. A newborn babe knows no "things", only the consciousness of Being and Awareness. I'm not saying form does not exist, just that it is a thin film on the bubble of existence - storywrite.com/story/show/41486
I applaud your effort in sharing your view in such a lengthy piece of rhyme.
Peace, Rod -
Yes you are right I do like this poem. I also agree with some of the comments about length. Mainly because I feel that there are two poems blended into this. Your images and rhymes make me smile at times.
Here I go, sorry but it should be lynchpin not hinge pin in the line:
Language is the hinge pin of the conscious divide.
A linchpin (occasionally lynchpin) is a metal part used in mechanical engineering to prevent a wheel or other rotating part from sliding off the axle it is riding on.
In colloquial speech, it is used to refer to the object at the center of a certain situation. An example of this is the main character in a sitcom, who acts as the glue that keeps all the other characters and situations together. (Wikipedia)
I also dispute your lines
Except in the minds of hers and his
Whose knowledge and feelings are full grown
Never. I am still learning and still growing.
Edited on May 16 because ''. -
Well expressed observation/contemplation of the dualities in creation; spirit and matter. Not so appealing to my minimalist taste
Your last stanza sums it up well, though.
All component things are impermanent. Work out your deliverence with mindfulness.
~ Buddha [last words of]
~Gen
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it only took me 14 months to follow your link but i am glad i did...great evolution through this piece
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Very cerebral piece, for certain. I also felt it was a bit drawn out, as there were times that the aim and focus of the poem were lost for me during the read. However, the very strong rhyme scheme and choice of words (as well as subject matter) kept me going.
As I read this, I kept considering these words in regards to the contest subject-- and felt I was being given more of an answer than a question, and in some places, more of a lecture (for lack of a better word) on our own physical manifestation-- not necessarily a reasoning for it (or even a dismissal of reason).
All in all, this was a very thought provoking poem, and I enjoyed reading it. Thank you for entering. -
Great idea
This was a labour of love I think a little drawn out but never the less..informative. Perhaps to condense would sharpen the strongest points you have made.This is in no way a criticism, just a suggestion
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It gives us lots of information about forms, sometimes more than we need to know, but the write was good and it flowed along well. You changed dthe rhyme scheme in some verses.
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interesting theme for a poem Ellis. may be a little overdone in parts, but I think you might be able to condense this some and allow the greater parts to shine. all in all, a pretty good and interesting piece of writing!
Jo -
Hi, good write a little draggy in some parts but interesting, liked it, it is nice to see new topics being written about, all the best, hugs Di
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