Eleanor Marx, Shelley's Socialism, The Shelley Society
Graham Henderson
Eleanor Marx Battles the Shelley Society!

In April of 1888, Eleanor Marx and Edward Aveling delivered a Marxist evaluation of the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley to an institution known as “The Shelley Society”. Composed of some of the giants of the Victorian literary community, the Society undertook research, hosted speeches, spawned local affiliates, republished important articles and poems (some for the first time!) and even produced Shelley’s The Cenci for the stage. But the Shelley Society was also a vehicle seemingly designed to obliterate Shelley’s left-wing politics. This article examines why the Shelley Society came into being and how it influenced the reception of Shelley for generations to come. Go behind the scenes with me as Eleanor Marx battles the forces of the male, bourgeois, Victorian literary establishment.

Eleanor Marx Battles the Shelley Society!
Shelley, Unacknowledged Legislator, Corbyn
Graham Henderson
Can Poetry Change the World?

When Shelley said poets were the "unacknowledged legislators of the world", he used the term "legislator" in a special sense. Not as someone who "makes laws" but as someone who is a "representative" of the people. In this sense poets, or creators more generally, must be thought of as the voice of the people; as a critical foundation of our society and of our democracy. They offer insights into our world and provide potential solutions - they underpin our future. An attack on creators is therefore an attack on the very essence of humanity.

Can Poetry Change the World?
Horoscope, Shelley, Valentine's Day
Graham Henderson
Happy Zodiacal Valentine's Day From Percy ...

WHO ARE YOU IN SHELLEY'S ROMANTIC ZODIAC?!?!

Do you want to know which love poem rules your sign? Which poem speaks to the heart of your loved one? Well look no further. We got ya covered. Happy Valentine’s Day Shelley Nation! Follow the link and dig in.

At last! Someone has undertaken a close reading of Shelley’s most romantic poems in order to match them with the 12 astrological signs! Who did this amazing thing? The Real Percy Bysshe Shelley did - that’s who.

Happy Zodiacal Valentine's Day From Percy Bysshe Shelley!!
Percy Shelley, The Clash, Graham Henderson
Graham Henderson
Let Fury Have the Hour - Shelley and The Clash

One of my favourite bands from the 1970s was Buzzcocks, an English outfit fronted by a man named Pete Shelley. Pete had been born as Peter McNeish; but when he took to the stage he changed his name to honour his favourite romantic poet. I was enthralled by this idea and when I wrote my masters thesis, I included three musical epigraphs: two from the Sex Pistols and one from Buzzcocks. It was perhaps a stretch - however in my youthful rebellious mind I thought it was apt.

But was it really so far-fetched to tie together punk music and romantic poetry? To test this, I thought I would be fun to have a quick glance at one of the classics of the era to see if there are, in fact, any Shelleyan overtones. That classic? Clampdown by The Clash from the album London Calling. Let’s dig in.

Let Fury Have the Hour - Shelley and The Clash
Shelley, Roland Duerksen, Secular Humanism
Graham Henderson
Roland Duerksen: A Shelleyan Life

In the early summer of 2017, I received a letter from the daughter of the noted Shelley scholar Roland Duerksen.  Susan had read my article “My Father’s Shelley” and it had struck a chord.  She wanted to connect me with her father, now 91 years old and living in New Oxford, Ohio. Roland is the author of two noteworthy and important books on Shelley: "Shelleyan Ideas in Victorian Literature" and "Shelley's Poetry of Involvement". His analysis is penetrating and nuanced, the style conversational and accessible. But it is his overall approach which makes him different, it is imbued with a humanity that reflects well both on himself and his subject. This much I knew, but I knew less about the man himself. I was thrilled that Susan had reached out to me, it was a chance to meet one of the great Shelleyans, but I had no idea whatsoever of the magic which lay in wait for me.

Roland Duerksen: A Shelleyan Life

Arethusa

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Of Myth and Reality. My Visit to the Beach at Viareggio.

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Of Myth and Reality. My Visit to the Beach at Viareggio.

In May of this year, I visited the places in and around Viareggio on the Italian Coast at the Gulf of La Spezia.  This is where Shelley lived out the last few days of his short life. The video which is at the heart of this post was recorded on the beach at Viareggio.  Somehow standing on that beach made it possible to strip away the accretion of the mythology and to confront the numbing reality of his death.  I found the moment almost overwhelming.I invite you all to join me on this virtual pilgrimage; and to pause for reflection.

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My Father's Shelley; a Tale of Two Shelleys

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My Father's Shelley; a Tale of Two Shelleys

My father’s Shelley, as I VERY quickly discovered, was very different from mine. He loved the lyric poet.  He loved the Victorian version. He loved Mary’s sanitized version.  In a weird way he bought into Mathew Arnold's caricature of Shelley (“a beautiful and ineffectual angel, beating his wings in a luminous void in vain.”) – and loved him the more for it.  He hated the idea that Shelley was a revolutionary.

 

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