Adonais

Adonais is an epic poem written by Percy Bysshe Shelley as an elegy to John Keats in 1821. It is widely regarded as one of Shelley's best works.

Related Topics:
Percy Bysshe Shelley - John Keats - 1821

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The poem, which runs to 495 lines in 55 "Spenserian" stanzas, was composed in the spring of 1821 immediately after April 11, when Shelley heard of Keats' death some three months earlier. It is a pastoral elegy, in the English tradition of John Milton's Lycidas. Shelley had studied and translated classical elegies as well as reading Lycidas. Most critics suggest that Shelley used Virgil's tenth Eclogue, in praise of Gallus, as a model, although he described the verse as "Spenser stanzas".

Related Topics:
April 11 - Pastoral - John Milton - Lycidas - Virgil - Eclogue - Gallus

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

It was published by Charles Ollier in July 1821 with a preface in which Shelley made the mistaken assertion that Keats had died from a rupture of the lung induced by rage at the unfairly harsh reviews of his verse in the Quarterly Review and other journals. He also thanked Joseph Severn for caring for Keats in Rome. This praise increased literary interest in Severn's works.

Related Topics:
Charles Ollier - Quarterly Review - Joseph Severn

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Shelley was introduced to Keats in Hampstead towards the end of 1816 by their mutual friend, Leigh Hunt, who was to transfer his enthusiasm from Keats to Shelley. Shelley's huge admiration of Keats was not entirely reciprocated. Keats had reservations about Shelley's dissolute behaviour and found some of Shelley's advice patronising (The suggestion, for example, that Keats should not publish his early work). It is also possible that Keats resented Hunt's transferred allegiance. Despite this, the two poets exchanged letters when Shelley and his wife moved to Italy. When Keats fell ill, the Shelleys invited him to stay with them in Pisa but Keats elected to travel with Severn. Despited this rebuff, Shelley's affection for Keats remained undimmed until his death in 1822 when a copy of Keat's works was found in a pocket on his drowned body.

Related Topics:
Hampstead - 1816 - Leigh Hunt - Pisa

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~