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The Revolt of Islam

by: Christian Pecaut

Topics: shelley, poetry, revolution, liberty, revolt, islam, pestilence, plague, famine, tyranny, epic, religion, laon, laone, justice, romantic, song, political, revolt, patriotism, america, civil war, massacre, battle, soldiers, lust, ignorance, misery, sanity, madness, french revolution, hope, virtue, evil, spenser, rhyme, drama

Shelley's preface begins (1818):

"The Poem which I now present to the world is an attempt from which I scarcely dare to expect success, and in which a writer of established fame might fail without disgrace. It is an experiment on the temper of the public mind, as to how far a thirst for a happier condition of moral and political society survives, among the enlightened and refined, the tempests which have shaken the age in which we live. I have sought to enlist the harmony of metrical language, the ethereal combinations of the fancy, the rapid and subtle transitions of human passion, all those elements which essentially compose a Poem, in the cause of a liberal and comprehensive morality; and in the view of kindling within the bosoms of my readers a virtuous enthusiasm for those doctrines of liberty and justice, that faith and hope in something good, which neither violence nor misrepresentation nor prejudice can ever totally extinguish among mankind."

Performing the poem is a demonstration that such passions remain alive.

Addeddate: 2006-12-22 05:53:14

External_metadata_update: 2019-04-16T18:13:01Z

Identifier: revoltofislam

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Reviews

Reviewer: DragonFireBreath - - June 22, 2017
Subject: Only One Word

I have only one word that comes to mind when I actually heard what this fellow is so arrogantly going around the web proclaiming to be a masterful reading:

"CRINGE."

I cringe for his attitude, for his mic/sound editing quality, and for his recording as a whole - but ESPECIALLY given how openly and proudly conceited he is about his work. If he was someone else, I wouldn't judge. But this clown goes around the internet abusing others and acting like he's the best reader/"creator" out there. SO MUCH CRINGE! I'll give him one star only for the passion, otherwise he deserves nought but ridicule.

Reviewer: carlsavich - - November 10, 2010
Subject: A Parable of Liberation and Freedom

Percy Bysshe Shelley stated that the goal of the poem was to stimulate "a virtuous enthusiasm for those doctrines of liberty and justice, that faith and hope in something good, which neither violence nor representation nor prejudice can ever totally extinguish among mankind." Written in 1817 and published as Laon and Cythna, the work was revised and edited and republished in 1818 as The Revolt of Islam. Christian Pecaut presents an excellent reading of the classic work.

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2 Reviews