Poetry · Chapter
Book II explained
Saturn enters the fallen Titans' realm and rallies them, but Oceanus argues that their defeat is a natural progression of beauty and power.
What happens
Saturn enters the fallen Titans' realm and rallies them, but Oceanus argues that their defeat is a natural progression of beauty and power. Clymene recounts hearing Apollo's divine music, and Enceladus incites rebellion. Hyperion appears, radiating sorrowful light, as the Titans grapple with their dethronement.
Themes in this chapter
Mortality and the Sublime
The Titans' fall and Hyperion's sorrowful radiance evoke the sublime experience of confronting cosmic decline and the transience of power.
Mythology and Classical Reference
The chapter is steeped in classical myth, featuring Saturn, Oceanus, Hyperion, and the Titanomachy, with allusions to Memnon and Apollo.
Social Critique and Mortality
Oceanus's speech on the natural succession of power and beauty critiques hierarchical dominance, suggesting an eternal law of progress and loss.
Characters to notice
- Saturn
Walks among the fallen Titans, rallies them with a speech, and seeks counsel from Oceanus.
- Thea
Affrighted, she lets Saturn pass into the fallen tribe.
- Oceanus
Delivers a philosophical speech arguing that the Titans' fall is due to natural law and the rise of greater beauty.
- Clymene
Shares her sorrowful experience of hearing Apollo's music, which overwhelmed her with joy and grief.
- Enceladus
Scorns Oceanus's wisdom, rouses the Titans to revenge, and points to Hyperion's undiminished radiance.
- Hyperion
Appears in radiant sorrow, his light revealing the Titans' misery, and responds to their shouts.
Key passages
“We fall by course of Nature's law, not force / Of thunder, or of Jove.”
Our downfall is due to natural progression, not the violence of Jove's thunder.
Oceanus argues that the Titans' defeat is inevitable and part of a cosmic order.
“That first in beauty should be first in might: / Yea, by that law, another race may drive / Our conquerors to mourn as we do now.”
The most beautiful must be the most powerful, and by this rule, future beings may surpass our conquerors.
Oceanus articulates a law of aesthetic and power succession.
“A voice came sweeter, sweeter than all tune, / And still it cried, 'Apollo! young Apollo! / The morning-bright Apollo! young Apollo!'”
A voice sweeter than any melody called out the name of Apollo, the bright morning god.
Clymene describes hearing Apollo's divine call, which overwhelms her.