ABSTRACT
This chapter explores Derek Attridge’s double-line scansion is not only a useful method with which to analyze the intricacies of Percy Bysshe Shelley’s prosody throughout Prometheus Unbound, but also provides a unique lens through which to see his poetic process at work. Shelley’s manipulation of metrical language masterfully reinforces his figurative language through his concurrent control of the pitch and movement of the text. Transforming quality that Prometheus associates with the Earth and the language of the dead equally applies to the music that arises from that realm, as a consonant form of sound, which, much like Ione and Panthea, by its very presence embodies hope for change in the world of the living. Shelley’s particular use of language also highlights his exploration of the limits and freedoms of voice, which he alternately figures as a powerful social vehicle against tyranny, a representative of mutability, and as a potential evil in itself.
