Epipsychidion (Annotated)

Epipsychidion is a major poetical work published in 1821 by Percy Bysshe Shelley. The work was subtitled: "Verses addressed to the noble and unfortunate Lady, Emilia V--, now imprisoned in the convent of --." The title is Greek for "concerning or about a little soul" from epi, "around," and psychidion, "little soul." The theme of the work is a meditation on the nature of ideal love. Shelley advocates free love, criticising conventional marriage, which he described as "the weariest and the longest journey." "Epipsychidion" opens with an invocation to Emilia as a spiritual sister of the speaker. He addresses her as a "captive bird" for whose nest his poem will be soft rose petals. He calls her an angel of light, the light of the moon seen through mortal clouds, a star beyond all storms.