Poetry · Chapter
Canto II explained
The speaker is guided through a celestial realm where the Titans lament their lost glory, Hyperion still clings to power but is plagued by dread, and the goddess Mnemosyne appears as a silent witness.
What happens
The speaker is guided through a celestial realm where the Titans lament their lost glory, Hyperion still clings to power but is plagued by dread, and the goddess Mnemosyne appears as a silent witness. Hyperion's fiery passage through the palace terrifies the ethereal hours.
Themes in this chapter
Mythology and Classical Reference
The canto is steeped in Titan mythology, with Hyperion, Saturn, Thea, and Mnemosyne embodying the cosmic struggle and divine melancholy.
Mortality and the Sublime
Hyperion's insecurity and the Titans' groaning evoke the sublime terror of fallen grandeur and the approach of mortality.
Sorrow and Melancholy
Big tears are shed in melancholy realms; the Titans' woe is 'too huge for mortal tongue,' and Hyperion's palace is filled with fear and ache.
Characters to notice
- Unknown
The mortal speaker who is led through the vision and stands in clear light before Mnemosyne.
- Hyperion
Blazing Hyperion still rules but is insecure and tormented; his palace glares blood-red and he paces with colossal strides.
- Saturn
Roused from icy trance, Saturn walks step for step with Thea from the woods.
- Thea
Thea accompanies Saturn as he is roused from his trance and moves through the woods.
- Titans
The fierce Titans, self-hid or prison-bound, groan for the old allegiance and listen for Saturn's voice.
- Mnemosyne
Mnemosyne sits on a polished stone, reflecting her priestess' garments, as the speaker arrives.
Key passages
“Mortal, that thou may’st understand aright, I humanize my sayings to thine ear, Making comparisons of earthly things; Or thou might’st better listen to the wind, Whose language is to thee a barren noise, Though it blows legend-laden thro’ the trees.”
I speak in human terms so you can grasp the truth; otherwise, you'd hear only meaningless wind, even though the wind carries ancient stories.
The speaker is told that divine truths must be translated into mortal language to be understood.
“Blazing Hyperion on his orbed fire Still sits, still snuffs the incense teeming up From Man to the Sun’s God—yet insecure.”
Hyperion still occupies his fiery throne and receives human worship, but he feels uncertain and threatened.
Hyperion's continued rule is undermined by a growing sense of insecurity.
“His palace bright, Bastion’d with pyramids of shining gold, And touch’d with shade of bronzed obelisks, Glares a blood-red thro’ all the thousand courts, Arches, and domes, and fiery galleries; And all its curtains of Aurorian clouds Flash angerly.”
His gleaming palace, fortified with golden pyramids and bronze obelisks, glows blood-red throughout its countless halls, and its cloud curtains flash with anger.
The description emphasizes the ominous, angry atmosphere of Hyperion's once-glorious palace.
“Anon rush’d by the bright Hyperion; His flaming robes stream’d out beyond his heels, And gave a roar as if of earthly fire, That scar’d away the meek ethereal hours, And made their dove-wings tremble. On he flared.”
Suddenly Hyperion rushed past, his fiery robes trailing behind him with a roar like earthly fire, frightening the gentle hours and making their dove-like wings shake as he blazed onward.
Hyperion's passage is violent and terrifying, disrupting the peaceful ethereal realm.
