The Daemon of the World by Percy Bysshe Shelley
While Ianthe sleeps, her spirit joins the Daemon of the World in a chariot and travels through the universe. She sees visions of human cruelty and a future Earth where people live peacefully with animals, prisons crumble and disease disappears. The Daemon urges her to resist tyranny and falsehood; her spirit returns to her body, and she awakens to find Henry kneeling beside her.
By Percy Bysshe Shelley · Genre: Narrative Poetry, Philosophical Poetry, Utopian literature · 6,589 words
First lines
A Fragment
Nec tantum prodere vati, / Quantum scire licet. Venit aetas omnis in unam / Congeriem, miserumque premunt tot saecula pectus. / LUCAN, Phars. v. 176.
Genres
- Narrative Poetry — The verse follows Ianthe's spirit from her sleeping body through a celestial journey and back to her awakening beside Henry.
- Philosophical Poetry — The Daemon connects birth, life and death to a universal mind and urges Ianthe's spirit to pursue gradual change through virtue.
- Utopian literature — The vision of a renovated Earth includes peaceful relations between humans and animals, abandoned prisons and freedom from disease.
Tags
spirit journeys · cosmos · utopian visions · tyranny · vegetarianism · mortality
What this Textopian page supports
The Daemon of the World is listed on Textopian as a poem by Percy Bysshe Shelley, dated Date unknown.
This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.
- Work type: Poem
- Author: Percy Bysshe Shelley
- Date: Date unknown
- Language: English
- Genres: Narrative Poetry, Philosophical Poetry, Utopian literature
- Length: 6,589 words
- Structure: 1 section, 36 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Fairly Difficult (10th-12th Grade)
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