ABSTRACT
Percy Bysshe Shelley, one of the most gifted and talent lyricists, is regarded as “the poet’s poet”. His life is full of extensive knowledge. He is not only a Platonist, but more a great idealist. This paper mainly studies on the natural images in Shelley’s poems. Firstly the paper analyses the definition and functions of the image. Secondly, the paper studies on the developing process of Shelley’s natural view through elaborating his family, social and political background, and then getting the conclusion that Shelley’s natural view is on the basis of pantheism. Finally, this paper chooses three representative natural images of Shelley’s poem, that is, the west wind, the skylark and the sensitive plant. Through analyzing their symbolic significance, it helps the readers to better understand Shelley’s natural view which holds that the nature is divine and everlasting and all the natural images possess some kind of man’s thought and emotion.
Key words：natural image; natural views; west wind; skylark; sensitive plant
Contents
1. Introduction 1
2. General idea of image 2
2.1 Definition 2
2.2 Images’ functions in poems 2
3. Background of Shelly’s natural view 4
3.1 Family background 4
3.2 Social and political background 5
3.3 The Formation of Shelley’s natural view 6
4. Natural images in Shelly’s poems 8
4.1 The west wind – power 8
4.2 The skylark – freedom 9
4.3 The sensitive plant – love and beauty 11
5. Conclusion 14
Acknowledgements 15
References 16
