The Triumph of Life

Percy Bysshe Shelley had two important literary influences for The Triumph of Life: Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy and Francesco Petrarch’s Trionfi (Triumphs). In Dante’s Inferno (the first part of the Divine Comedy), the poet is guided through Hell by the poet Virgil. In The Triumph of Life, the poet is guided by the philosopher Rousseau in his vision of life’s chariot processional, or parade. Shelley alludes to Dante’s poem several times, writing:

Behold a wonder worthy of the rhyme

Of him who from the lowest depths of Hell

Through every Paradise and through all glory

Love led serene (Lines 471-74).

Dante’s poem explores the circles of Hell, as well as the reaches of Heaven. His beloved Beatrice guides him through Heaven, which Shelley references in his discussion of love.

Petrarch’s Trionfi is a lesser-known work, but its influence can be seen throughout The Triumph of Life. Petrarch’s poem itself was inspired by the woman he loved, Laura, and by real-world Roman processionals (parades), which were called triumphs. Wartime heroes rode on horse-drawn chariots (also called cars and carts) with captives chained to them. Large crowds would surround the chariot. In the poem, Petrarch’s chariots carry Love, Chastity, Death, Fame, Time, and Eternity.