Shelley’s Religion was first published in 1936. Minnesota Archive Editions uses digital technology to make long-unavailable books once again accessible, and are published unaltered from the original University of Minnesota Press editions.That we have power over ourselves to doAnd suffer – what, we know not till we try;But something nobler than to live and die.“The beginning of a new school of Shelleyan criticism” is to be found in this daringly original and impassioned discussion of the poet’s attitude toward God, Christianity, immortality, and related subjects. This is the most thorough treatment Shelley’s religious ideas have ever received.The author, an iconoclastic young critic of remarkable insight and intensity, attacks with spirit a number of Shelley “myths” and their proponents, living and dead. He draws extensively from Shelley’s own writings to prove that the poet was anything but an undiscriminating materialist, or a shallow and uncomprehending opponent of true religion. This is a book which Shelleyans will read with delight – some perhaps with dismay.
