In the following passage, taken from Prometheus's initial monologue in Act 1, the imprisoned Titan describes the pain he must undergo on a daily basis as a result of Jupiter's punishment. Shelley uses personification at many points throughout this monologue, employing the literary device to emphasize the more dramatic aspects of Prometheus's imprisonment. This technique comes to the fore when Prometheus describes the chains binding him:
The crawling glaciers pierce me with the spears
Of their moon-freezing crystals, the bright chains
Eat with their burning cold into my bones.
These chains have a humanlike agency to them; they “eat” away at Prometheus with their coldness. This figurative language helps the reader imagine Prometheus’s pain and discomfort, with the cold of the chains being so vicious that it may even degrade his flesh (i.e., frostbite) down to the bone. Indeed, the cold of these chains is so harsh and painful that it very nearly burns Prometheus, causing him to describe his feelings using the oxymoronic phrase "burning cold."
Prometheus's description of his bindings edges on magical. While it is true that something can be so cold it "burns" the skin of anyone who holds it, it may also be true—in this story of myth and fantasy—that the chains are enchanted by some magic to keep Prometheus ensnared. If the latter is the case, both oxymoron ("burning cold") and personification contribute to the perception of Prometheus's chains as a magical object.
The natural world plays an important role in Prometheus Unbound, taking on a special significance within the imagery and figurative language of the poem—as embodied by Shelley's personification of the mountains, air, and winds in the following passage:
As then, ere misery made me wise. The curse
Once breathed on thee I would recall. Ye Mountains,
Whose many-voiced Echoes, through the mist
Of cataracts, flung the thunder of that spell!
Ye icy Springs, stagnant with wrinkling frost,
Which vibrated to hear me, and then crept
Shuddering through India! Thou serenest Air,
Through which the Sun walks burning without beams!
And ye swift Whirlwinds, who on poised wings
Hung mute and moveless o’er yon hushed abyss.
All of these personified natural forces take on the role of speaking characters, functioning as a kind of chorus for Prometheus. The natural world—Mother Earth included—appears to take on an advisory role with regards to Prometheus: he looks to see what he can learn from it, like a Romantic poet, and refrains from dominating or colonizing it.
Notably, Shelley himself was a Romantic poet; both he and his contemporaries featured nature in their work almost as a character in and of itself. This elevated personification of nature would become characteristic of Romanticism, permeating other genres and styles (i.e., gothic and sentimental literature).
In this passage from the beginning of Act 1, Prometheus addresses Mercury, who has descended from the heavens to bargain with Prometheus on Jupiter’s behalf. Prometheus refuses to accept compromise with Jupiter, stating that evil will make its own terrible end. In his mind, it’s not part of his role to interfere with Zeus’s affairs, nor seek individual vengeance—the universe will make things right. While refusing help from Mercury, Prometheus uses personification to explain his reasoning:
Let others flatter Crime, where it sits throned
In brief Omnipotence; secure are they:
For Justice, when triumphant, will weep down
Pity, not punishment, on her own wrongs,
Too much avenged by those who err.
In making this statement, Prometheus personifies a number of abstract concepts, including "omnipotence," "justice," and "pity," asserting that it is these forces which will supersede any role or powers of his own. Prometheus treats these abstract concepts as one might treat natural forces: through his framework, such abstract concepts govern society in the same way that natural “laws” govern biology and weather patterns. These abstract forces are, to Prometheus, immutable extensions of the earth’s power; and, not unlike these natural forces, “justice” and “pity” supersede Jupiter’s own godly power.
At the beginning of Act 2, Scene 1, Asia personifies spring, addressing it as a "child of many winds." The description of the joy of Spring that follows is intended as a form of imagery, paralleling her emotional state:
O Spring!
O child of many winds! As suddenly
Thou comest as the memory of a dream,
Which now is sad because it hath been sweet;
Like genius, or like joy which riseth up
As from the earth, clothing with golden clouds
The desert of our life …
This is the season, this the day, the hour;
At sunrise thou shouldst come, sweet sister mine …
Too long desired, too long delaying, come!
While Asia had once lost hope, now she believes a new beginning is on the horizon—one that ends with her reuniting with her husband.
The concept of Spring as a new beginning emerges as a motif, representing hope throughout the poem. Take this comment in Act 1 from Panthea, who remarks on the uplifting voices sent to aid Prometheus:
Look, sister, where a troop of spirits gather,
Like flocks of clouds in spring’s delightful weather,
Thronging in the blue air!
The troop of spirits and spring both represent the happy prospect of Prometheus's freedom, and perhaps a new beginning for humanity.
At the beginning of Act 2, Scene 1, Asia personifies spring, addressing it as a "child of many winds." The description of the joy of Spring that follows is intended as a form of imagery, paralleling her emotional state:
O Spring!
O child of many winds! As suddenly
Thou comest as the memory of a dream,
Which now is sad because it hath been sweet;
Like genius, or like joy which riseth up
As from the earth, clothing with golden clouds
The desert of our life …
This is the season, this the day, the hour;
At sunrise thou shouldst come, sweet sister mine …
Too long desired, too long delaying, come!
While Asia had once lost hope, now she believes a new beginning is on the horizon—one that ends with her reuniting with her husband.
The concept of Spring as a new beginning emerges as a motif, representing hope throughout the poem. Take this comment in Act 1 from Panthea, who remarks on the uplifting voices sent to aid Prometheus:
Look, sister, where a troop of spirits gather,
Like flocks of clouds in spring’s delightful weather,
Thronging in the blue air!
The troop of spirits and spring both represent the happy prospect of Prometheus's freedom, and perhaps a new beginning for humanity.
