In Shelley’s “Hymn to Intellectual Beauty,” we see throughout many hints as to the nature of his sublime, but we are never able to view it directly. This is in keeping with the body of Shelley’s work, wherein the sublime is often alluded to, but seldom shown. In addition, it is impossible to ignore his indebtedness to Wordsworth, and the traditions he created. The poem begins, “The awful shadow of some unseen Power / Floats though unseen among us – visiting / This various world with as inconstant wing / As summer winds that creep from flower to flower” (1-4). There are many key words in this opening passage, which give us an indication as to what is on Shelley’s mind. “Awful shadow” is a beautiful use of imagery to describe the effects he sees his sublime make on the world. While “awful” may mean awesome, or truly great, it can also mean something that is utterly terrible, a sentiment that cannot be ignored; for Shelley, the inability to grasp hold of the sublime is a constant agony. It is also very important to note that it is a “shadow” he speaks of, not the actual physical manifestation of the sublime, the “unseen Power.” “Power” is the name he gives here for his sublime, giving it a personification via capitalisation. This is, unfortunately, something that is beyond his abilities to comprehend, though it is what he strives for. A shadow is by its very nature something that is an effect, not a causal device. It obscures that which it covers, making it more difficult to view, and often its source is visible only in silhouette, insubstantial and intangible. The nature of this “shadow” becomes clearer, as it “floats…unseen” through the world. Not only is the sublime itself, the “Power,” just out of view for Shelley, but its effect is similarly only hinted at, not really within his grasp. It is only “visiting”, an intransitive word indicating that the unseen effect of the unseen cause is in itself here and then gone, never a constant but only a...