152:"strange panacea in a crystal bowl" to those who were the most beautiful and imparted "strange dreams" to those who were less beautiful. The Witch sought to change man's perception of death. Death was not to be feared. The Witch took a coffin and "threw it with contempt into a ditch." The grave was "as a green and overarching bower/ Lit by the gems of many a starry flower." She sought to make the world more just and fair by making "more vain" all those purposes which were "harsh and crooked". The "miser" would place "all his evil gain" on a "beggar's lap". The "scribe" would reveal his own lies. Priests would reject dogma and "old cant". The king would place an ape on his throne and dress him up in his vestments while a "mock-bird" repeated the "chatterings of the monkey". War would be practised no more as soldiers turned their swords into ploughshares on "red anvils". Finally, "timid lovers" would see the "fulfilment of their inmost thought." These are the pranks the Witch "played among the cities of mortal men." The Witch was able to envision and foresee a future Utopia for all mankind.
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characteristics, with pinions, or wings. A "fair Shape out of her hands did flow" because "all things together grow/ Through which the harmony of love can pass." In Greek mythology, Hermaphrodite was the offspring of Hermes and
Aphrodite. The hermaphrodite is androgynous and synthesises the opposing and contradictory aspects of the creative mind. The hermaphrodite is both the companion and the servant to the Witch. The journeys consist of sailing in the air on an airship and in water on a boat, or pinnace. They travel from the Atlas Mountains to the Austral Lake to the Nile Valley. Nature is explored as are fire and electrical energy. The Witch begins her sojourn from the ancient northern Ethiopian city of Axume. Lake Moeris, an ancient lake southwest of Cairo, Egypt, is visited, as are the Mareotid lakes south of Alexandria. King Amasis of Egypt, Memphis, and the bull god Apis are invoked. The forces of creation and destruction are resolved. The objective is a synthesis or union of contradictions.
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99:"is a brilliant congregation of ideas such as his senses gathered, and his fancy coloured, during his rambles in the sunny land he so much loved." She objected, however, that Shelley was "discarding human interest and passion" in favour of "fantastic ideas" which were "abstract" and "wildly fanciful" and "full of brilliant imagery". She argued that Shelley should have written works that were more consonant with the popular tastes of that time: "The surpassing excellence of
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River into Egypt and
Aethiopia with "tame water-snakes" and "ghastly alligators". She observed mankind at sleep. Injustice and inequality were noted: "And pale imaginings of visioned wrong;/ And all the code of Custom's lawless law/ Written upon the brows of old and young." It is this oppression and exploitation that trouble mankind's existence: "'This ... is the strife/ Which stirs the liquid surface of man's life.'"
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The Witch is the daughter of the
Atlantides, who in Greek mythology are called the Pleiades, the seven daughters of Atlas and Pleione. Her home, the Atlas Mountains, are a range that stretches across north Africa, from Morocco and Algeria to Tunisia. Her "choice sport" was to "glide adown" the Nile
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The "visionary rhyme" recounts the pranks the Witch plays on mankind. Like
Shelley himself, the Witch was able to perceive the fears and desires of mankind: "In mine own heart I saw as in a glass/ The hearts of others." She is able to see the "naked beauty" of the human soul. The Witch gave a
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revolves around the travels and adventures of a mysterious and mythical Witch who lives in a cave on Atlas' mountain by a secret fountain and who creates a hermaphrodite "by strange art" kneading together fire and snow, a creature, Hermaphroditus, "a sexless thing", with both male and female
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had made me greatly desire that
Shelley should increase his popularity by adopting subjects that would more suit the popular taste than a poem conceived in the abstract and dreamy spirit of the
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Allis, Michael, "Reading Music
Through Literary Scholarship: Granville Bantock, Shelley, and The Witch of Atlas", Journal of Musicological Research, 36.1 (2017), pp. 6–28
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in 1824 edited by Mary
Shelley. The work, which Shelley called "a fanciful poem", was dedicated to Mary Shelley, the dedication "To Mary" first appearing in the
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109:." Shelley responded in the prefatory verses that she was "critic-bitten ... by some review" and defended the work as "a visionary rhyme".
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Greenfield, John. "Transforming the
Stereotype: Exotic Women in Shelley's Alastor and The Witch of Atlas."
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mentions "the Witch of Atlas" and the "Mareotid Lakes" together, presumably an allusion to
Shelley's poem.
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Tanquary, Kate. (Winter, 2008). "Gender
Constructs and Creation from Frankenstein to The Witch of Atlas."
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Miyamoto, Nahoko. "Hybridity and Desire in Shelley's 'The Witch of Atlas'." Knox College, Toronto.
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Lee, Debbie. (1997). "Mapping the Interior: African Cartography and Shelley's The Witch of Atlas."
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were written and reflects similar themes. The theme of the poem is a quest for the perfect union.
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244:
Goulding, Christopher. (September 2003). "Percy Shelley, James Lind, and 'The Witch of Atlas'."
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Duerksen, Ronald A. (1985). "Wordsworth and the Austral Retreat in Shelley's Witch of Atlas.'"
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Strange Truths in Undiscovered Lands: Shelley's Poetic Development and Romantic Geography
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Colwell, Frederic S. "Shelley's 'Witch of Atlas' and the Mythic Geography of the Nile."
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262:. Eds. Marilyn Demarest Button & Toni Reed. Westport, CT: Greenwood P, 1999.
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269:. Ed. Spencer Hall. New York: The Modern Language Association of America, 1990.
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442:
309:, Miyamoto, Nahoko. (1998). University of Toronto. Re-orienting Romanticism.
287:"Talking Utopia: Percy Shelley and Iris Murdoch on Love, Art, and Morality."
265:
Hoeveler, Diane Long. "Shelley and Androgyny: Teaching The Witch of Atlas."
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186:
The Witch of Atlas Notebook: A Facsimile of Bodleian MS. Shelly adds., e.6.
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334:"Romanticism and the Insistence of the Aesthetic: Shelley's Pod People."
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wrote a tone poem for orchestra based on the Shelley poem in 1902,
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Wood, Andelys. "Shelley's Ironic Vision: 'The Witch of Atlas'."
316:. American Conference on Romanticism Fifth Annual Meeting, 1998.
36:
400:
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Yeats, W. B. (1900). "The Philosophy of Shelley's Poetry", in
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The Witch of Atlas: Tone Poem for Orchestra No.5 after Shelley
857:
Wolfstein, The Murderer; or, The Secrets of a Robber's Cave
303:. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2004.
211:
The Visionary Company: A Reading of English Romantic Poetry
321:
Shelley and the Chaos of History: A New Politics of Poetry
43:
written in 1820 and published posthumously in 1824 in the
896:
Carl H. Pforzheimer Collection of Shelley and His Circle
307:"The Witch of Atlas and a Romantic Southern Geography."
330:. London: Farleigh Dickinson University Press, 1996.
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contained Utopian themes that first had appeared in
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361:. New York: Macmillan Publishers, 1961. OCLC 362823
218:Shelley's Eye: Travel Writing and Aesthetic Vision
72:, which was first performed on 10 September 1902.
230:Cronin, Richard. "Shelley's 'Witch of Atlas'."
521:Poetical Essay on the Existing State of Things
412:
279:Hughes, A.M.D. "Shelley's 'Witch of Atlas'."
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592:Posthumous Fragments of Margaret Nicholson
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193:The Creative Mind: Shelley's Hermaphrodite
95:edition of 1839. Mary Shelley wrote that
283:, 7, 4 (October 1912), pp. 508–516.
328:Romanticism and the Androgynous Sublime
267:Approaches to Teaching Shelley's Poetry
260:The Foreign Women in British Literature
227:, 45, 1 (Spring, 1978), pp. 69–92.
47:collection. The poem was written in 78
7:
849:Wolfstein; or, The Mysterious Bandit
745:Rosalind and Helen, A Modern Eclogue
584:Original Poetry by Victor and Cazire
301:Slavery and the Romantic Imagination
206:. University of Toronto Press, 2009.
865:Zastrozzi, The Master of Discipline
1175:Poems about witches and witchcraft
729:Alastor, or The Spirit of Solitude
83:was composed in three days at the
14:
255:. Whitefish, MT: Kessinger, 2003.
253:The Meaning of The Witch of Atlas
213:. Cornell University Press, 1971.
130:, 1820. Bodleian Library, Oxford.
1037:The Life of Percy Bysshe Shelley
568:" (published posthumously, 1840)
469:
380:
51:stanzas during the period when
1170:Poetry by Percy Bysshe Shelley
966:Sir Percy Shelley, 3rd Baronet
943:The Man Who Wrote Frankenstein
682:One Word is Too Often Profaned
558:A Philosophical View of Reform
234:, 26, (1977), pp. 88–100.
1:
1117:The Haunting of Villa Diodati
535:A Vindication of Natural Diet
528:A Letter to Lord Ellenborough
354:, 29, (1980), pp. 67–82.
39:of the English romantic poet
891:Keats–Shelley Memorial House
814:History of a Six Weeks' Tour
543:History of a Six Weeks' Tour
188:NY: Garland Publishing,1997.
689:Music, When Soft Voices Die
633:Hymn to Intellectual Beauty
390:public domain audiobook at
220:. Ashgate Publishing, 2005.
1191:
1160:Fictional creation stories
467:
281:The Modern Language Review
276:. NY: NYRB Classics, 2003.
561:(1819–20, published 1920)
323:. Penn State Press, 1997.
184:Adamson, Carlene A., ed.
553:" (1817, published 1832)
514:The Necessity of Atheism
359:Essays and Introductions
294:European Romantic Review
1044:Shelley's Vegetarianism
1134:Shelley Memorial Award
131:
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1069:Bride of Frankenstein
1051:Shelley: A Life Story
1000:Thomas Jefferson Hogg
793:The Masque of Anarchy
352:Keats-Shelley Journal
296:, 8, pp. 169–84.
239:Keats-Shelley Journal
232:Keats-Shelley Journal
161:William Butler Yeats'
125:
85:Baths of San Giuliano
66:Sir Granville Bantock
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1101:Rowing with the Wind
1020:Edward John Trelawny
873:Zastrozzi, A Romance
661:Ode to the West Wind
428:Percy Bysshe Shelley
274:Shelley: The Pursuit
41:Percy Bysshe Shelley
22:First appearance in
1119:" (2020 TV episode)
1015:Thomas Love Peacock
937:authorship question
804:Collaborations with
785:The Triumph of Life
737:The Revolt of Islam
566:A Defence of Poetry
326:Stevenson, Warren.
246:Notes & Queries
216:Colbert, Benjamin.
978:Sir Bysshe Shelley
927:Authorship debates
777:The Witch of Atlas
769:Julian and Maddalo
576:Poetry collections
451:Prometheus Unbound
387:The Witch of Atlas
374:The Witch of Atlas
372:Online version of
289:, Jacobs, Deborah.
178:The Witch of Atlas
141:The Witch of Atlas
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128:The Witch of Atlas
111:The Witch of Atlas
97:The Witch of Atlas
81:The Witch of Atlas
54:Prometheus Unbound
32:The Witch of Atlas
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908:Shelley's Cottage
654:Love's Philosophy
272:Holmes, Richard.
64:British composer
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989:Claire Clairmont
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619:The Devil's Walk
600:Posthumous Poems
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340:. Praxis Series.
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314:Romantic Circles
165:Under Ben Bulben
89:Posthumous Poems
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1112:(2017 film)
1104:(1988 film)
1096:(1988 film)
1088:(1986 film)
1080:(1984 play)
1072:(1935 film)
1029:Biographies
841:Adaptations
611:Short poems
506:Non-fiction
49:ottava rima
37:poetic work
35:is a major
1155:1820 poems
1149:Categories
1061:Portrayals
1005:John Keats
984:Lord Byron
822:Proserpine
713:Long poems
647:Ozymandias
640:Mont Blanc
626:Mutability
495:St. Irvyne
1165:Mythology
721:Queen Mab
675:The Cloud
487:Zastrozzi
443:The Cenci
126:Draft of
116:Queen Mab
102:The Cenci
59:The Cloud
974:(father)
705:" (1834)
698:" (1824)
691:" (1824)
684:" (1822)
677:" (1820)
670:" (1820)
663:" (1820)
656:" (1819)
649:" (1818)
642:" (1817)
635:" (1817)
628:" (1816)
621:" (1812)
530:" (1812)
523:" (1811)
516:" (1811)
392:LibriVox
347:, 11, 1.
119:(1813).
1127:Related
761:Adonaïs
696:A Dirge
479:Fiction
171:Sources
156:Related
76:History
26:, 1824.
1085:Gothic
962:(wife)
953:People
884:Places
876:(1986)
868:(1977)
860:(1850)
852:(1822)
833:(1820)
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817:(1817)
796:(1832)
788:(1824)
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764:(1821)
756:(1821)
748:(1819)
740:(1818)
732:(1816)
724:(1813)
603:(1824)
595:(1810)
587:(1810)
546:(1817)
538:(1813)
498:(1811)
490:(1810)
462:(1822)
459:Hellas
454:(1820)
446:(1819)
968:(son)
830:Midas
435:Plays
241:. 34.
163:poem
135:Plot
57:and
225:ELH
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