Report on To A Skylark

by Claudio Eleccion

Percy Bysshe Shelley may very well be one of the most underrepresented of the Romantic poets. Although he died young, Shelley nonetheless made an impression that to this day carries on. He was actively vocal about his atheism and politics - issues that brought him numerous problems and complications. His publication history is similarly rife with problems. The background of Shelley's To A Skylark falls into the domain of his troubled publishing drama. In making his poetry and prose available to the public, Shelley encountered problems with his own publishers, his family, and interestingly enough, his own brand of writing. Each of these factors may have contributed to the general obscurity that surrounds Shelley and his works.

To A Skylark was originally published with Prometheus Unbound, one of Shelley's visionary poems. While Prometheus Unbound was the headlining work, To A Skylark was relegated to the back of the volume as additional material along with other poems such as Ode to the West Wind. To A Skylark may have been conceived in Italy while on a walk in the countryside on a summer day in 1820 (White 368). Upon completing the poetry for Prometheus Unbound, Shelley encountered problems with his publisher, with whom he has had an uneasy relationship with from the start.

In 1817, Shelley published one of his early political pamphlets through Charles Ollier. Charles, along with his brother James, were a young publishing group who had very little money to invest into their business (O,Neil 45). This relationship with the Olliers would last until Shelley's death in 1822. Though the Olliers had little money, they were collecting an interesting roster of authors including John Keats (45). Shelley did not have much choice in the matter of publishers. He had been living off of a 200 pound a year allowance courtesy of his grandfather's estate (Tomalin 19). Even though Shelley chose to stay with the young upstarts, their lack of funds caused Shelley to pay for some of his own printing and advertising. Evidently, the relationship between Shelley and the Olliers was one of necessity. They needed authors and Shelley needed a publisher. The brothers apparently even served as more than just publishers. Shelley utilized Charles "not only as a bookseller, but also as a banker, shipping agent, haberdasher, postman, and general factotum (O,Neil 11). By using Charles Ollier for these different positions, it would appear as if Shelley has a great trust invested into the Ollier brothers. However, with the publishing of Prometheus Unbound, this trust would be called into question.

Shelley regarded Prometheus Unbound as one of his best poems. In a letter to Ollier, Shelley urged him to "pet him and feed him with fine ink and good paper (82). Clearly, Shelley wants to reach a certain kind of reader given the attention that must be paid to the printing alone, and therefore, the accurate printing of the text is vital to its success. Shelley,s wishes were denied despite his attempted communication with Ollier. With Shelly in Italy and Ollier in England, it was easy for Ollier to ignore Shelley's wishes. Ollier did not send Shelley any proofs of the final copy to review, and failed to answer his correspondence. In the end, Thomas Peacock, a friend of Shelley's in England, wound up proofing the final copy. In August of 1820, the first pressing of Prometheus Unbound was released. The volume measured 5 by 8 7/8 and was bound in dark blue-gray paperboards (Zillman 9). As a consequence of Ollier's lack of communication, the first printing of Prometheus Unbound contained numerous typographical errors. Shelley wrote once again to Ollier stating, "the errors of the press are so numerous, & in many respects so destructive of the sense of a species of poetry (O,Neil 90-91). Shelley,s dream to reach a special audience with his poetry is not realized with the release of the first pressing of this volume.

In addition to the publisher's errors in providing Shelley's works to the public, Shelley himself limited his audiences through his writing. He specifically lets his intentions known in the preface to Prometheus Unbound: "My purpose has hitherto been simply to familiarize the highly refined imagination of the more select class of poetical readers with the beautiful idealisms of moral excellence (Wu 866). This statement possibly alienated some of his readers, leaving them to wonder just how refined their imaginations are. A reviewer for London Magazine (1821) wrote in an essay that:

With all the combined attractions of mind and verse, we feel that Mr. Shelley can never become a popular poet. He does not sufficiently link himself with man; he is too visionary for the intellect of the generality of his readers and is ever immersed in the clouds of religious and metaphysical speculations. (Behrendt 228)

In limiting his audience, Shelley further pushes himself into a self-imposed literary exile.

Just two years after the publication of Prometheus Unbound, Shelley tragically dies. Following his death, Pirated copies of his works appear in England as well as America (Zillman 11). Mary Shelley is left with copies of corrections to the poorly made volumes, and attempts to work on editing them. Shelley's father Sir Timothy Shelley intervenes on Mary,s plans to edit and re-release her late husbands work. He threatens to cut her from any allowance that she receives from the Shelley estate (11). In 1839, Mary Shelley completes editing her husband,s works, appearing in four volumes.

In Shelley's short lifespan, he managed to publish poetry and prose that would have had a profound effect on an unsuspecting audience. Yet his problems with publishers, his family and his own unique writing only served to keep his works from wide exposure and acceptance. Shelley's obscurity may partly be to blame on his ideology and partly on the uncooperative nature of those who worked with him in publishing.

Works Cited

Behrendt, Stephen C. Shelley and His Audiences University of Nebraska Press: Lincoln and London 1989

O,Neil, Michael. Percy Bysshe Shelley A Literary Life The MacMillan Press Ltd: London 1989

Tomalin, Claire. Shelley and His World Thames and Hudson Ltd.: London 1980

White, Ivey Newman. Portrait of Shelley Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.: New York 1945

Zillman, Lawrence John. Shelley,s Prometheus Unbound University of Washington Press: Seattle 1959