Shelley's Defense for Poets

Despite bearing the title "The Defense of Poetry", Percy Shelley's essay helps defend the authors of poetry just as much as the material they produce: "Poets are the unacknowledged legislators of the world"(1178). Shelley is writing in defense against Peacock's satirical essay on the "Four Ages of Poetry", which considers the role of science and technology as an overriding force in the face of the "imagination". Shelley discusses the importance of beauty and the pleasure derived from the beautiful things and establishes a clear dichotomy from the beginning of his essay between "reason" and "imagination". He argues that reason and imagination are two complimentary entities that all men should possess. Poetry is the vehicle for expressing the imagination. It is thus the poet's responsibility to "communicate and receive intense and impassioned conceptions respecting man and nature" (1178). It is clear in the title of Shelley's essay that he intends to defend poetry as an art form. However, an equally important understanding of this essay, is the utility and prowess of the poet himself, and the acknowledgement that his work is not in vain.