Adonais

"Adonais" by Percy Bysshe Shelley is an elegiac poem written in the early 19th century. The poem serves as a lament for the death of the poet John Keats, celebrating his life and artistic contributions while expressing profound grief over his untimely demise. The work is steeped in classical references and reflects Shelley's contemplations on mortality, loss, and the enduring nature of artistic legacy. At the start of "Adonais," Shelley introduces the theme of mourning through the character of Urania, who embodies the sorrow for the deceased, Adonais (representing Keats). The poem articulates the emotional landscape surrounding Keats's death while addressing the struggles and hardships faced by poets in a society that often overlooks their genius. As Urania mourns, the speaker reflects on the beauty and transience of life, ultimately concluding that, although Adonais has left this world, his spirit endures through his art and the natural world. This opening sets the stage for a rich exploration of beauty, loss, and the role of the poet as a mediator between life and death. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

Percy Bysshe Shelley was an English writer who is considered one of the major English Romantic poets. A radical in his poetry as well as in his political and social views, Shelley did not achieve fame during his lifetime, but recognition of his achievements in poetry grew steadily following his death, and he became an important influence on subsequent generations of poets, including Robert Browning, Algernon Charles Swinburne, Thomas Hardy, and W. B. Yeats. American literary critic Harold Bloom describes him as "a superb craftsman, a lyric poet without rival, and surely one of the most advanced sceptical intellects ever to write a poem."