Question

Read the second stanza from "Mutability.” Or like forgotten lyres, whose dissonant strings Give various response to each varying blast, To whose frail frame no second motion brings One mood or modulation like the last. What idea is conveyed through this comparison of humans to lyres? Like a lyre with strings that need to be tuned, humans will inevitably find reasons to disagree about things. Like a lyre with strings that always make new sounds, humans respond uniquely to different experiences. Like a lyre that has a fragile structure, humans are too delicate to survive in a harsh and unforgiving universe. Like a lyre that is capable of always playing new music, humans will be remembered for their intense creativity.

Answer 1

The idea conveyed through the comparison of humans to lyres is that like a lyre with strings that always make new sounds, humans respond uniquely to different experiences.

The second stanza from "Mutability" by Percy Shelley indicates that humans behave and feel in a different way in every situation they experience in life just as lyres play different tunes. In other words, the poet is stating that individuals have different responses to different life events. In that way, by using imagery, the poet is trying to remark the human condition of mutability. He highlights the idea that humans are always changing and there is nothing constant in their lives.