RISING UNIVERSE (SHELLEY FOUNTAIN)
Radical Sculpture for a Radical Man
Radical, controversial, ahead of his time - those are all descriptions of Horsham’s famous son, the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, who was born in Horsham at Field Place on August 4th 1792.
His poems and philosophical themes have been embraced around the world and he has become universally acknowledged and internationally renowned.
Playwright Vaclav Havel, later to become President of Czechoslovakia, spoke Shelley’s words during the “Velvet Revolution” and Shelley was quoted by freedom-seeking Chinese when they confronted the tanks in Tiananmen Square.
In 1892, while the world’s press celebrated the centenary of his birth, the only recognition given to Shelley by Horsham was a plaque placed in Horsham’s parish church. Perhaps his controversial nature made it difficult for him to be accepted in his own town.
However, by 1992 there were many events celebrating Shelley’s Bicentenary in Horsham and Warnham, and it was resolved to mark his contribution to art and culture in a permanent and tangible way.
Sculptor Angela Conner produced a bold and imaginative sculpture which vividly conveys the modern non-conformist nature of Horsham's famous poet. The scuplture stands in the Bishopric, Horsham.
This strikingly modern sculpture is an apt symbol for a man greatly admired for his revolutionary and visionary ideas. Truly it is a Radical Sculpture for a Radical Man.
Rising Universe
Shelley was fascinated by water and by the modern sciences.
Like many of his contemporary authors and artists, he was captivated by the power of Nature and of Man. Angela Conner, the sculptor, drew her inspiration for the fountain, which she called “Rising Universe”, from Shelley’s famous allegorical poem “Mont Blanc”.
The everlasting universe of things
Flows through the mind, and rolls its rapid waves,
Now dark - now glittering - now reflecting gloom -
Now lending splendour, where from secret springs
The source of human thought its tribute brings
Of waters, - with a sound but half its own,
Such as a feeble brook will oft assume
In the wild woods, among the mountains lone,
Where waterfalls around it leap for ever,
Where woods and winds contend, and a vast river
Over its rocks ceaselessly bursts and raves.
“Mont Blanc’, 1817 - Percy Bysshe Shelley