Beginning of Essay
Theme :- Inspiration in “” “When composition begins, inspiration is already on the decline” - P. B. Shelley Shelley deals with the theme of inspiration in much of his work. However it is particularly apparent in ‘’ where the win ....

Middle of Essay
.... he relies upon Dantesque ideas to write his poetry. The image of the leaves being blown by the wind “like ghosts from an enchanter fleeing”(l.3) depends on the Inferno in Paradiso for the image to have an effect on the reader. The various cycles of death and rebirth are examined with reference to the Maenads who were fabled to have destroyed Orpheus’s body and spread it around the world. This is the underlying theme to the poem with Shelley alluding to the breaking of Christ’s body on the cross and how that was essential for humanity to reach salvation. The onslaught of Autumn is the ‘Destroyer’ in one sense but a ....