Summary SPIRIT OF DELIGHT by P. B. SHELLEY

SHELLEY is it in very sad mood in the poem. He invokes The spirit of Joy. He feels that the spirit of delight has left him. He does not know why it has left him. His days and nights are dull and sad. He does not know how to call it back again. It lives with happy people and keeps away from pain and sorrow. It has deceived the poet. It has completely forgotten him. It lives with the happy people who do not need it at all. 

The poet gives the example of lizard. The shade of a trembling leaf frightens a lizard. In the same way, grief and sorrow frighten the spirit of delight. It shuns the company of those who are in grief and sorrow. It does not listen to the requests and complaints of the unhappy people. The poet decides to look happy and cheerful. In order to deceive the spirit, he will sing happy songs, though his heart is full of grief. The spirit will come for pleasure. Then he will not allow it to go away. 

The poet, Shelley, loves all those things that the spirit of delight loves. He loves the earth covered with green leaves. He loves the night full of stars. He loves the sun-rise and sun-set in the autumn. He loves all the objects of nature which are not spoilt by man's grief. He loves the golden mists which are born in the morning or in the evening in the autumn. He loves snow which is so white and pure. He loves the bright and shining frost in all its forms. He loves the waves of the sea. He loves the winds whistling in the trees. He also loves the storms which are so strong and powerful. 

The poet is a great lover of peace and solitude. He loves the company of those people who are calm and quiet, wise and sensible. In nature and temperament, the poet is in no way different from the spirit of delight. He loves those very things which the spirit loves. But he fails to understand why the spirit of delight possesses all those things that the poet lacks. Love is dear to the poet. But it has wings and flies away very soon. But above all other things, the poet is in love with the spirit of delight. It is the source of love and life. The poet invites the spirit to come to him and make him happy. It should live in his heart and fill it with delight.