Selected Poems and Prose

by Percy Bysshe Shelley

  281–3 Phrygian … arms: Mountainous regions in the west and north-west of Asiatic Turkey (Asia Minor), whose inhabitants are being levied to fight against the Greeks.

  283 horrent: Bristling (OED 1). Cp. Paradise Lost II.512–13: ‘enclosed / With bright emblazonry, and horrent arms.’

  285–7 Scala … blood: Galignani’s Messenger for 10 September 1821 reported that the unsuccessful assault on Samos by the Ottoman navy was launched from Scala Nuova (Kuşadası), a port on the west coast of Turkey. The inhabitants of Samos had rebelled against the Ottoman administration in April–May 1821.

  287–94 On 19 June 1821, the attempt by Alexandros Ypsilantis to invade the Danubian Principalities (Moldavia and Wallachia) of the Ottoman Empire was decisively repulsed at the Battle of Drăgăşani. European newspapers attributed Ypsilantis’s defeat to the fact that he had been abandoned by his former allies in those provinces, hence Hassan’s reference to the ‘false Moldavian serfs’ (‘serfs’ = people ‘in a condition of servitude or modified slavery’ (OED)) who fled from the Ottoman armies. See also notes to ll. 361–2, 367–8, 373–452 below.

  290 Allah-illah-Allah: ‘There is no god but God’, Islamic declaration of faith, sometimes used as a battle-cry.

  299 The Anarchies of Africa: The North African states of Algiers, Tripoli and Tunis, all (loosely) governed by the Ottoman Empire; Galignani’s Messenger for 31 July 1821 reported that Ottoman ambassadors had sought naval assistance and had been granted it by Tunis.

  303–4 the Queen / Of Ocean: Britain.

  312 recreant: Cowardly.

  319 the key of gold: The coat of arms of the papacy features two crossed keys, one of gold and one of silver.

  330 the Tartar chivalry: Cavalry from Central Asia, known as ‘Tartary’ in PBS’s day.

  333 Cp. the ‘mark’ on Anarchy’s ‘brow’ in The Mask of Anarchy, l. 37: ‘I AM GOD, AND KING, AND LAW’.

  344 One star: The planet Venus, as the evening star.

  355 Abel: Echoing God’s reproach of Cain for murdering Abel in Genesis 4:10: ‘What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto me from the ground.’

  356 the inheritors of the earth: Ironically recalling Matthew 5:5: ‘Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.’

  361–3 The reference is unclear: Drăgăşani, where Ypsilantis was defeated on 19 June 1821 (see note to ll. 287–94), is about sixty miles west of Bucharest. The fort has not been identified, but PBS might have been thinking of Baba Vida, an Ottoman stronghold in the town of Vidin, although it lies about sixty miles south-west of Drăgăşani. It has never been ‘Islanded in the Danube’, but was one of the principal strongholds of the Danubian Principalities of the Ottoman Empire.

  363 Ibrahim’s scymitar: Galignani’s Messenger for 9 September identifies Ibrahim Paşa as the commander of the Ottoman forces in Wallachia (in the Ottoman Empire, paşa (‘Pacha’, l. 385) was an honorary title given to generals, governors and other officials of similar rank). For ‘scymitar’, see note to The Mask of Anarchy, l. 319.

  367–8 The light Wallachians … Albanian allies: It was widely reported in British and European newspapers that Ypsilantis’s defeat was triggered by the desertion of his allies in the Danubian Principalities of the Ottoman Empire (Wallachia and Moldavia) and Eastern Europe. Here ‘light’ means ‘light infantry’; ‘Arnaut’ is an Ottoman Turkish word for mercenaries from the Ottoman possessions in Eastern Europe and the Balkans; ‘Servian’ means ‘Serbian’. Hassan reports that Ypsilantis’s allies fled from the Ottoman artillery, leaving him with only a core band of volunteers.

  373–452 Islanded … died: PBS here expands upon reports of the destruction of the so-called Sacred Band of volunteers who made a last stand with Ypsilantis at the Battle of Drăgăşani (see note to ll. 287–94). Galignani’s Messenger for 20 July 1821 reported that ‘this battalion was entirely annihilated’ by the Ottoman army.

  385 Pacha: See note to l. 363.

  386 Render: Surrender.

  414 sanguine: Bloodthirsty.

  422 Ascribe to: Enrol among.

  427 pensioners: Mercenaries.

  446 Genius: Guardian spirit.

  448 A seraph-winged Victory: Nike, the Greek personification of victory, was usually represented as a winged female.

  459–527 PBS’s account of the destruction of the Ottoman fleet draws both upon Aeschylus’ Persians and upon contemporary newspaper reports of two significant Greek victories over the Ottoman navy, the first in June 1821 in the Strait of Mytilini and the second in July following the failed Ottoman assault on Samos.

  470–71 Latmos is the highest peak in the Beşparmak Mountains, near the south-west coast of Turkey; Ampelos is a mountainous promontory on the island of Samos, facing Ikaria; Phanae is a harbour on the island of Chios; the ‘Icarian isles’ lie west of Samos and south of Chios.

  482 Nauplia: A port city on the east coast of the Peloponnese.

  485 Hydriote: From the island of Hydra.

  500 Naxos: The largest island of the Cyclades.

  519 weltering: Both ‘tumbling on the waves’ and ‘decaying’.

  523 the voiceless … sea: Marine creatures.

  526 Patmos: An island north-east of Naxos.

  528–9 the Muscovite Ambassador … the city: The Russian ambassador to the Ottoman court, Baron Grigory Aleksandrovich Stroganov (1769–1857), left Istanbul in June 1821, following a dual crisis over the arrest of the embassy’s banker and the ongoing Ottoman refusal to allow Russian shipping to pass through the Dardanelles, the narrow channel linking the Sea of Marmara to the Aegean.

  531 the hippodrome: Although no longer an arena for horse or chariot racing, the site of the Hippodrome in the centre of Ottoman Istanbul remained in use as a public square.

  533 planet-struck: ‘Panic-stricken’ or ‘bewildered’ – as if by ‘the supposed malign influence of a planet’ (OED).

  535 Stamboul: In western European usage, an older form of ‘Istanbul’.

  546–8 Nauplia … Thebes: Cities and towns across Greece; the Second Messenger is reporting widespread Ottoman defeats.

  550 Galilean: Christian; the childhood home of Christ and scene of much of his ministry was in Galilee.

  551–5 the lust … light: Ottoman and Greek atrocities were widely reported in European newspapers, and PBS alludes to them in his correspondence.

  555–7 The Examiner for 6 May 1821 (No. 696) carried reports that Greek forces were besieging the Turkish fortress in the city of Patras (Pátra) on the north coast of the Peloponnese. Galignani’s Messenger for 19 July reported that a Greek naval blockade was in place, following the capture of some Ottoman supply ships. The nearby Ionian Islands were a British Protectorate, hence the Second Messenger’s reference to ‘the Briton’.

  560 the oaths broke in Genoa and in Norway: Sir William Bentinck (1774–1839) occupied Genoa at the end of the Napoleonic Wars, having promised British support for the restoration of the Genoese Republic, without knowing that the Treaty of Paris (1814) had already granted Genoa to the Kingdom of Sardinia; in December 1814, British troops administered the transfer of authority, which the Congress of Vienna ratified in January 1815. The Treaty of Kiel (1814), also ratified by the Congress of Vienna, forced the cession of Norway from Denmark, a former ally of France, to Sweden. Although the Norwegians drew up a constitution and declared their independence in May 1814, neither Britain nor the Holy Alliance supported them and Swedish control was ratified by the Swedish–Norwegian Act of Union in 1815 (although Norway retained much of its new constitution).

  563–5 See PBS’s Note 4.

  564 Attica: The region surrounding Athens.

  565 Negropont: Euboea, a large island off the coast of Attica.

  566–78 The ‘aged Ali’ – Ali Paşa (‘the Lion of Ioánnina’) – controlled the western section of the Ottoman province of Rumelia (now the south Balkans) from his fortress at Ioánnina (Yanina), on the shore of Lake Pamvotis. He was something of a household
name in Britain, not least because Byron had given an extended account of their meeting in Canto II of Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage. Originally an Ottoman appointee, Ali had grown largely independent, and Mahmud II had been attempting to depose him since 1820. Ali’s ongoing resistance to repeated Ottoman assaults was widely reported. Rumours (unfounded) of an alliance between Ali and Ypsilantis were also widespread.

  578 Indian gold: Gold bullion (rather than currency) from India or, perhaps, South America; possibly a popular term for opium.

  578–617 The Christian tribes … Have sickened: In the Third Messenger’s account of the spread of revolt across the Ottoman Empire, PBS draws on but also exaggerates contemporary reports.

  581 the Arab menaces Medina: PBS would have read in The Examiner (e.g. 15 April 1821), that the Wahabi – a radical fundamentalist sect of Islam – were mustering an army in Arabia; Medina, in present-day Saudia Arabia, is the destination of the hijrah of Muhammad and his followers and the site of the Prophet’s tomb.

  582–5 The Ethiop … aid: Mehmet Ali Paşa, the Ottoman governor of Egypt, launched an invasion of neighbouring Sudan (‘Senaar’) in 1821 which initially met with stiff resistance, although it eventually succeeded. Ali’s relationship with the central Ottoman government was notoriously fractious (hence ‘the Egyptian rebel’ who ‘claims investiture’, i.e. formal establishment as an independent ruler of Egypt, in return for his assistance). Galignani’s Messenger for 27 July 1821 carried an (unfounded) report that he had allied himself with the Greeks.

  586–7 the Georgians / Refuse … tribute: Georgia, in the Caucasus, sent an annual tribute of women to the Sultan’s harem at Istanbul.

  591 Santons: An order of Islamic ascetics; cp. ‘Dervise’ in l. 595.

  592 prophesyings horrible: Cp. Macbeth II.iii.56: ‘prophesying with accents terrible’.

  595–7 Galignani’s Messenger for 5 September 1821 reported: ‘on the 28th [of August], an old man appeared in the streets [of Istanbul], who gave himself out for a prophet, and by an explication of some passages in the Koran, foretold the demise of the Ottoman Empire.’

  595 Dervise: Or Dervish, a Muslim holy man vowed to poverty and austerity of life.

  598–601 See PBS’s Note 5. Cp. Mark 13:26 on the second coming of Christ: ‘And then shall they see the Son of man coming in the clouds with great power and glory.’

  601–12 Ominous signs … from among the stars: Cp. Shakespeare, Julius Caesar II.ii.17–24.

  606 the Cydaris: Classical name of the Alibey, one of the two streams which join together at the northern end of the Golden Horn, the estuary of the Bosphorus which divides northern and southern Istanbul.

  620–22 Chelonite’s / Promontory … Briton’s frown: Akra Kyllinis, the westernmost point of the Peloponnese, overlooks the Ionian Islands, a British protectorate since 1814.

  634–7 The Ottoman admiral Kara Ali Paşa was killed in 1822, along with around fifteen hundred sailors, when his flagship was destroyed off Chios by Constantinos Kanaris. The Fourth Messenger’s vague report of his defeat (‘reverse’) near the Ionian Islands is not based in fact.

  644–6 Cp. Macbeth V.v.18–25.

  661 battle paean: War song.

  672 The rack: ‘Clouds, or mass of cloud, driven before the wind in the upper air’ (OED).

  682 Let there be light: Cp. Genesis 1:3.

  688–9 The rivers Thermae and Asopus are near the sites of the battles of Thermopylae and Plataea, two decisive Greek actions in the defeat of the Persian invasion, led by Xerxes, in 480–479 BC.

  690–92 The deluges are the successive blows to Greek liberty after the defeat of the Persian invasion. They include the Peloponnesian War (431–404 BC) between Athens and Sparta (‘Discord’); the decline of the Greek city states in the fourth century BC, under the rule of Philip of Macedon and his son Alexander the Great (‘Macedon’); and the subjugation of Greece by the Roman Empire (‘Rome’) and, most recently, by the Ottoman Empire (‘Thou’).

  704 Orphic: In Greek myth, Orpheus was the first poet; his verse and music had supernatural power to charm and subdue.

  705 Titanian: Of the earliest, giant, generation of the gods, the Titans; hence both ‘ancient’ and ‘of immense size’.

  707 On 10 June 1821, The Examiner reported that the city of Argos (once, like Corinth, one of the most powerful city states in ancient Greece) had been liberated from the Ottomans.

  709 In Greek myth, daemons were spirits intermediary between gods and men; nymphs were localized, semi-goddesses, often associated with specific natural objects.

  711–14 Cp. the blindfolded ‘Shape’ driving the chariot of ‘Life’ in The Triumph of Life, ll. 86–106.

  715–16 What eagle-winged … right hand: Cp. Paradise Lost VI.762–3: ‘at his right hand Victory / Sat eagle-winged.’

  728 In 1 Kings 19:12, God speaks to the prophet Elijah not through violent and destructive natural phenomena but rather in ‘a still small voice’.

  728–32 Cp. Aeschylus, Agamemnon 758–60: ‘It is the impious deed / that breeds more to follow, / resembling their progenitors.’ PBS quotes from the same passage in a letter to MWS of 8 August 1821 (Letters II, p. 325).

  733–5 For ‘the unknown God’, see l. 211 and note. There is no record of an altar to Pity in the Parthenon (‘the fane [temple] / Of Wisdom’) on the Acropolis, the spiritual centre of Athens. However, Pausanias, Description of Greece I.xvii.1, records seeing one in the nearby marketplace. Cp. Leigh Hunt praising the (supposed) forbearance of the Greeks towards their Ottoman prisoners in The Examiner for 4 November 1821: ‘With delight the enlightened mind recognises in this conduct the descendants of those who raised temples to Pity’ (p. 691).

  742 Frank: Western European; the term originally designated the Germanic peoples who conquered Gaul and from whom ‘France’ derives.

  761 Cp. Prometheus Unbound IV.483–7.

  763–4 Cp. Shakespeare, Hamlet I.v.168–9: ‘There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, / Than are dreamt of in our philosophy.’

  773 cressets: Torches set on a pole or attached to or suspended from a high place, to provide illumination.

  776 Calpe: The original Latin name for the Rock of Gibraltar.

  776–81 Alluding to Prospero’s speech on illusion and transience in Shakespeare, The Tempest IV.i.148–58. Cp. also The Triumph of Life, ll. 248–51.

  781 motes of a sick eye: Cp. Hamlet: ‘A mote it is to trouble the mind’s eye’ (see ‘Additional Passages’ in Wells and Taylor OUP edition, p. 688).

  785 Cp. ‘On Life’: ‘nothing exists but as it is perceived’; and A Defence of Poetry: ‘All things exist as they are perceived; at least in relation to the percipient’.

  793 Dodona’s forest: The oak grove outside the city of Dodona in Epirus, in north-west Greece, surrounded a famous oracle of Zeus.

  803–4 Cp. Matthew 7:7: ‘Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.’

  807–8 Mehmet II (‘the Conqueror’), who ruled the Ottoman Empire from AD 1451 until his death in 1481, captured Constantinople and made it his capital on 29 May 1453.

  814–15 See PBS’s Note 6. As PBS acknowledges, much of the detail and imagery of Mahmud’s vision is drawn from Gibbon’s account of Mehmet II’s conquest of the city, in chapter 68 of his History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (1776–88).

  822 adamantine: Unbreakable.

  829 Ἐν τούτῳ νίκη: The Greek battle-cry – ‘In this sign [the Cross] you shall conquer’ – from a legendary incident in the life of the emperor Constantine. See notes to ll. 221–4, 290.

  838 a Tartarian barb: Horses from both Tartary (Central Asia) and Barbary (North Africa) were noted for their speed and endurance.

  862–3 Cp. the ghost of Darius in Aeschylus, Persians 688–91: ‘not with ease the way / Leads to this upper air; and the stern gods, / Prompt to admit, yield not a passage back / But with reluctance.’

  865–6 the power … I
arose: The Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire, overthrown when Mehmet II captured Constantinople (see note to ll. 807–8); for the previous three centuries, the city had been ruled by the Palaeologan Dynasty.

  903 In legal terminology, ‘reversion’ is the process by which a loaned or granted estate returns to the grantor at the end of a set period of time, typically on the death of the grantee.

  927 Elysian: Elysium was the abode of blessed souls in ancient Greek and Roman myth.

  936 From the farthest north to the equator; Thule is a semi-legendary, northern land mass in ancient Greek and Roman literature. See also Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night’s Dream: II.i.175: ‘I’ll put a girdle round about the earth.’

  939 eat, drink and die: Cp. Isaiah 22:13: ‘let us eat and drink; for to morrow we shall die.’

  943 pyramid of night: The conical shadow cast by the earth into space, in the direction opposite the sun. PBS uses the same phrase in Prometheus Unbound IV.444.

  948–9 ‘The flag of Russia under the Romanov czars featured a double-headed eagle; the Turkish flag, a crescent moon’ (Norton 2002).

  984–6 Cp. Epipsychidion, ll. 164–8; the mirror-like shield in Spenser, The Faerie Queene I.vii.33–4, viii.20; and note 36 to A Defence of Poetry.

  987 Image of the Above: The sense appears to be that if Truth covers its mirror so that it no longer reflects things as they are, then we should lament for it as we do for Liberty, Virtue and Love – all subject to the attrition of the world.

  988–91 Xenophon, Anabasis (IV.vii) tells of ‘the Ten Thousand’, Greek mercenaries, Xenophon among them, who, after the failure of their attempt to overthrow the King of Persia, fought their way back through hostile territory to the Black Sea.

  993 young Atlantis: The United States of America.

  1006 Amphionic music: Amphion, the son of Zeus and Antiope, charmed the walls of Thebes into place with the sound of his lyre.

  1008 Alluding to the celebrated comment attributed to the British leader Galgacus in Tacitus, Life of Agricola 30: ‘Plunder, butchery, rape, these things they [the Romans] misname empire: they make a desolation and call it peace.’