Shelley’s take on poetry and it’s ultimate task is to revive and reanimate the past, but in a beautiful light. According to Shelley, “Poetry thus makes immortal all that is best and most beautiful in the world”. She also adds on by saying ” Poetry redeems from decay the visitations of the divinity of man.” Shelley believes that poetry is where the past resides and that it is a “universal sense” which can transfer the emotions and experiences in a poem into a person.  Shelley also states that “It is impossible to read the compositions of the most celebrated writers of the present day without being startled with the electric life which burns within their words.” Her description of the experience of reading such poetry proves the high level of regard and admiration she has towards poetry.

In regards to the state of  a post-revolution society, Shelley believes that poets and contemporaries alike will live on in the society even after the time of war/conflict has resided. It is these voices that will live on, and hold true power in times of revolution. She claims that “the most unfailing herald, companion, and follower of the awakening of a great people to work a beneficial change in opinion or institution, is Poetry.” She states that during times of revolution, the messages said through poetry and written works grows and accumulates.

Shelley ends her defense on poetry in a good note, arguing that ” Poets are the unacknowledged legislators of the world.” One thing to point out about Shelley’s defense of poetry is that she never fails to capitalize the first letter of words such as poetry, power, and world, even if they aren’t beginning off a sentence. It clearly demonstrates the importance of these words and how poetry is a true influence in times of revolution, among many things.