Mutability

Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1816

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Summary

Background

Poem Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Literary Devices

Symbols & Motifs

Mutability as a Symbol of an All-Powerful God

Mutability is a symbol of ultimate power; it controls humans and their universe and is the reason why their moods and beings shift and swerve. Life isn’t stable, and mutability has no trouble disrupting any attempts at permanence. When the word appears in the poem, it’s the last word, so mutability has the final say. There is no going beyond it. The poem doesn’t keep going because nothing exists beyond mutability or, in the words of Shelley’s speaker, “Nought may endure but Mutability” (Line 111).

Only mutability has the power to survive. The speaker reinforces mutability’s unrivaled authority by turning the common noun into a proper noun. Through capitalizing mutability, it becomes Mutability, and it makes it seem like Mutability is a specific entity or god. Although Shelley critiqued organized religion, he was deeply spiritual, and the elevation of mutuality to Mutability suggests change is the omniscient force in the human world. What’s almighty and all-powerful is Mutability.

Although Mutability doesn’t explicitly appear until the very end, it manifests when the “[n]ight closes round” (Line 4) and vanquishes the clouds. As a symbol of power, night represents Mutability. Night serves the same purpose as Mutability because it creates change. Mutability is also covertly present in Stanza 2 as it’s what makes the lyre “forgotten” (Line 5) and saps it of its strength. The lyre’s weakness is the result of Mutability’s strength.

The Clouds and Lyres as Symbols of Aggressive and Passive Humans

The clouds symbolize humans as aggressive actors. The clouds are restless, so they “speed, and gleam, and quiver” (Line 2). They’re excited and in motion, and they leave their mark on the world by “[s]treaking the darkness radiantly” (Line 3). Yet the willful clouds/humans are no match for mutability’s representative, night. After night “closes round,” the humans/clouds “are lost for ever” (Line 4). The clouds symbolize imposing humans and show that even rollicking humanity doesn’t stand a chance against mutability.

The lyres symbolize passive humanity. They’re dilapidated and incapable of rushing along like the aggressive humans/clouds. The lyres give “various response to each varying blast” (Line 6), so someone or something else has to act upon them for them to move or make a noise, and that someone or something is mutability. It preys on the lyres/humans and is responsible for their “frail frame” (Line 7). The passive lyres/humans lack agency and can’t control their “mood or modulation” (Line 8). With the lyre symbolism, the speaker drops the pretense of will. The lyres stand in for enfeebled humans and the inescapable influence of mutability.

The Complex Motif of Purity

A motif that links the theme of mutability is the idea of purity. Humans come across as susceptible to corruption. While they’re asleep, a dream might “poison” their rest (Line 9), and when they’re awake, a “wandering thought pollutes the day” (Line 10). As mutability rules all, humans don’t possess the means to ward off inimical changes, which suggests humans are already corrupt or always on the verge of corruption. Yet corruption doesn’t automatically mean an absence of values. Here, the idea points to a truth—humans are a combination of diverse elements beyond their control. They are corrupt, but they’re not morally corrupt because adulteration is part and parcel of human nature.

The motif of purity takes on a different meaning in Stanza 1. The clouds/humans try to leave their mark on the darkness and taint it through “[s]treaking” (Line 3). Yet they fail to corrupt the darkness because night appears and discards them forever. As night is a product of mutability, mutability ensures purity. The “forgotten lyres” (Line 5) are arguably pure because they’re a pure product of mutability. Unlike the humans/clouds, they’re not under any false impressions, but they’re also not sick or diseased because the “frail frame” (Line 7) is their pure state. As melancholy and abject as Stanza 2 reads, it is, in the context of the poem, an honest depiction of humans, so it qualifies as uncorrupted or pure.