Sonnet ("Ye hasten to the grave! What seek ye there,")

Shelley, Percy Bysshe

Primary Category: Literature / Poetry

Genre: Sonnet

Annotated by:
Moore, Pamela
  • Date of entry: Aug-08-1994

Summary

Shelley angrily asks why some people chase after death or knowledge of it. To analyze the source of life or the conditions of its end is "vain" curiosity. Such knowledge has no benefit; it merely is a case of man trying to usurp the role of God.

Commentary

Shelley's poem would nicely accompany a reading of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (see this database). Both poets warn man about overstepping his bounds. Intellectual/scientific achievement is nothing compared to developing the sentiments. Indeed, the hubris of such pursuits may lead to disaster.

Miscellaneous

First published: 1823

Primary Source

Poetical Works

Publisher

Oxford Univ. Press

Place Published

New York

Edition

1988

Editor

Thomas Hutchinson