Nature as a Spiritual Guide in Percy Bysshe Shelley's Poetry

This dissertation analyzes the major function of nature as a spiritual teacher in the poetry of Percy Bysshe Shelley, who is likely the most famous poet of the Romantic movement. Shelley's poetry illustrates that natural forces transcend style and aesthetic description, often becoming metaphysical forces of transformation, rejuvenation, and enlightenment. For Shelley, nature is not only beautiful; it is an educational model that teaches, comforts, and liberates the human spirit. Shelley transcends simply projecting beauty on life experiences resembling nature. Shelley's nature is epistemologically and ontologically divine energy that acts as a companion in humanity's spiritual development. Close readings of emblematic poems such as Ode to the West Wind, To a Skylark, The Cloud, and Mont Blanc show that the natural forces of the poetry imitate both destructive and generative forces, whereby its destruction instructs readers on the conditions of existence, and regarding mortality and immortality. It is argued that Shelley understands nature to be a never-ending educator in this role, unlocking imagination, developing a moral consciousness, and leading humanity towards transcendence and unity with the universe. I also note how Shelley channels these ideas closely related to Romantic ideals while simultaneously advancing a spiritual philosophy of nature as a mediating agent for the human and the divine.