Percy Bysshe Shelley
British · 19th century
Major English Romantic poet, literary critic, and author of closet dramas. Known for his literary criticism asserting that 'a single well-chosen word can be poetry.'
Connection to Taylor Swift
Uncle Jerry invokes Shelley's critical principle that 'a single well-chosen word can be poetry' as a framework for evaluating Taylor's diction in Cold as You, finding 'one well-chosen phrase' in the song.
Notable Works
- Ozymandias, Prometheus Unbound, A Defence of Poetry, The Cenci
Appears in the Archive
Context within the Archive
A Defence of Poetry
“I've never been anywhere cold as you”
Uncle Jerry frames his evaluation of Cold as You's diction through Shelley's critical principle from A Defence of Poetry that 'a single well-chosen word can be poetry,' identifying 'I've never been anywhere cold as you' as the song's one well-chosen phrase that meets Shelley's standard.
Ode to the West Wind
“Wild winds are death to the candle”
Angela & Uncle Jerry note that the phrase 'wild winds' in the line 'Wild winds are death to the candle' echoes Percy Bysshe Shelley's 'Ode to the West Wind,' which also discusses wild winds. Uncle Jerry identifies this as one of several possible allusions layered into the first verse.
A Defence of Poetry (literary criticism)
“I've never been anywhere cold as you”
Angela invokes Shelley's critical principle that a single well-chosen word can constitute poetry, then applies it to Cold as You: the phrase "cold as you" earns its weight by being the well-chosen phrase the song is built around. The reference is structural to the song's craft reading rather than to its imagery.
Ozymandias
“But even statues crumble if they're made to wait”
Uncle Jerry connects Taylor's line about crumbling statues to Percy Bysshe Shelley's poem 'Ozymandias,' about a great Eastern king who erected a massive statue with the inscription 'Look on these works, ye mighty and despair', but nothing remains except the fallen head and pedestal. The inscription becomes ironic because there are no works left. Uncle Jerry wonders if Taylor is thinking of Ozymandias when she writes that even statues crumble if made to wait, noting the shared theme that even permanent-seeming things deteriorate over time.