BRISTOL CHANNEL.
THE DEVIL’S WALK.
FRAGMENT OF A SONNET: FAREWELL TO NORTH DEVON.
The Annotated Edition
BRISTOL CHANNEL. by Percy Bysshe Shelley
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This fragment — only the title and subtitle remain — was written by Shelley while he was near the Bristol Channel in North Devon.
- Themes
- exile, memory, nature
§01Quick summary
What this poem is about
This fragment — only the title and subtitle remain — was written by Shelley while he was near the Bristol Channel in North Devon. It reflects his feelings about saying goodbye to a rugged, windswept landscape that clearly touched him. Even in its unfinished form, it shows that Shelley was contemplating departure, the devil's restless roaming, and the untamed beauty of the English coast.
§02Themes
Recurring themes
§03Line by line
Stanza by stanza, with notes
THE DEVIL'S WALK.
Editor's note
This title connects the fragment to a satirical tradition that Shelley, Coleridge, and Southey all embraced—the notion of the Devil casually walking through the ordinary world and discovering its corruption or absurdity. In this case, the Devil's stroll takes place along the Bristol Channel, anchoring the satire in a particular, turbulent coastal setting.
FRAGMENT OF A SONNET: FAREWELL TO NORTH DEVON.
Editor's note
The subtitle indicates that this was intended as a sonnet — a concise, 14-line structure — focusing on a departure. North Devon, characterized by its cliffs, tidal flats, and the expansive Bristol Channel, was a location Shelley experienced during his early years of exploration. The term 'farewell' holds significant meaning: Shelley was always on the move, and saying goodbye to beloved places was a constant aspect of his life.
§04Tone & mood
How this poem feels
What remains is both mournful and uneasy. The combination of the Devil's cynical roaming with an earnest goodbye generates a strange, electrifying tension—irreverence and sincere emotion coexisting, which is very much in line with Shelley.
§05Symbols & metaphors
Symbols & metaphors
- The Devil's Walk
- Borrowed from a satirical poem that Shelley co-wrote with Thomas Jefferson Hogg and later echoed by Coleridge and Southey, the Devil walking the earth represents a clear-eyed observer who sees through social pretension without hesitation. In this coastal setting, it also implies a sense of restlessness and a refusal to settle down.
- The Bristol Channel
- The Channel is one of the most dramatic tidal areas in the world, experiencing massive fluctuations between high and low water. For Shelley, it embodies the sublime — nature in its most indifferent and overwhelming form, overshadowing human worries.
- The Farewell
- Farewells in Shelley's work often have a dual significance: they reflect the loss of a particular place or person, as well as the wider experience of exile that characterized his life. He was kicked out of Oxford, became distant from his family, and ultimately left England for good.
§06Historical context
Historical context
Shelley was in North Devon around 1812 during a time filled with political turmoil and personal challenges. At just twenty years old and recently expelled from Oxford, he was restlessly traveling through Britain and Ireland, handing out radical pamphlets. The coast of the Bristol Channel, especially Lynmouth, provided him with a striking and secluded backdrop. He famously launched bottles and paper boats containing his radical writings into the Channel, hoping the tide would bring his ideas to new readers. This fragment captures that moment: a young man enchanted by a wild landscape, already aware he would soon have to leave it. Shelley left England for good in 1818 and tragically died in a sailing accident off the Italian coast in 1822, making his goodbyes to the English shore feel particularly poignant in hindsight.
§07FAQ
Questions readers ask
No. Only the title and subtitle remain. The sonnet itself — if Shelley ever completed it — is gone. What we have is basically just a label for a poem that no longer exists, which is frustrating but not surprising for Shelley; he left behind many fragments and unfinished drafts.
The Devil's Walk was a satirical poem inspired by Coleridge and Southey's 'The Devil's Thoughts' (1799). In it, Shelley crafted his own version, picturing the Devil traveling the world and reflecting on its corruption. By using that title here, it hints that the farewell to Devon will carry a satirical or darkly comedic tone, rather than simply being a straightforward lyrical goodbye.
In 1812, Shelley and his first wife Harriet Westbrook spent some time in Lynmouth, a quaint village on the Devon coast near the Bristol Channel. He was captivated by its isolation and natural beauty, using it as a hub for his radical political efforts, such as sending pamphlets out to sea in bottles.
It's the vast tidal estuary that lies between South Wales and South West England, where the River Severn flows into the Atlantic. This area experiences some of the highest tidal ranges globally—water levels can rise and fall by more than 15 metres. For a poet captivated by the sublime and the forces of nature, it was a clear source of inspiration.
It follows a familiar pattern. Shelley was rarely in one place for long — he was always on the move, traversing Britain, Ireland, and later Europe. Each location he cherished eventually became one he had to abandon, whether due to personal choice, financial strain, or political circumstances. His goodbyes were personal, yet they also reflect the broader exile that influenced his entire adult life.
Even in just the title, you can spot the themes Shelley repeatedly revisits: the strength of untamed nature, a satirical perspective on society through the Devil figure, and the sorrow of separation and loss. His major poems — *Ode to the West Wind*, *Alastor*, *Adonais* — all revolve around these same ideas.
The subtitle reads 'Fragment of a Sonnet', indicating that Shelley aimed for a 14-line poem in a classic, structured format. He wrote sonnets from time to time — his 'Ozymandias' is likely the best-known English sonnet from the Romantic era — and the form's brevity would have been ideal for a farewell lyric.
Wordsworth and Coleridge were both quite familiar with the area — *Tintern Abbey* lies just up the River Wye, which flows into the Severn Estuary near the Channel. Coleridge resided in the region for several years. This entire stretch of coastline held significance for the first generation of Romantic poets, and Shelley was intentionally crafting his work within that landscape.
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