Adonais
An Elegy on the Death of John Keats
Assigned by 1 of the 9 reading lists, catalogue entry only
- Written
- 1821
- Form
- Lyric poetry
- Language
- English
- Length
- Short · 30 ppunder 120 pages
- Difficulty
- Demanding3 of 5 for a first-year reader
We recommendThe Major WorksOxford University Press (Oxford World's Classics), 2009Zachary Leader and Michael O'Neill's edition has Adonais, Hellas, the Defence and all the major lyrics in one volume with notes.
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A pastoral elegy of fifty-five Spenserian stanzas written at Pisa within weeks of Keats's death in Rome, which Shelley blamed on a hostile review. Adonais, the dead poet, is mourned by Urania and by the personified dreams and desires that were his poems, and by a procession of fellow poets including a self-portrait of Shelley. The poem then turns from grief to consolation: Adonais is not dead but has become part of the one Spirit that animates nature, and the poet's own bark is driven out toward him.
No reading guide yet
The catalogue entry above is complete: the dates, the form, the themes and every program that assigns Adonais are verified against each program's published list.
What is missing is the part that takes real work: the summary, the key passages, and a recommended translation. The edition named below is the one most programs assign, so the buy links are useful already.
