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Adonais By: Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822) |
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by SHELLEY edited With Introduction and Notes by WILLIAM MICHAEL ROSSETTI 1891
CONTENTS. PREFACE
MEMOIR OF SHELLEY
MEMOIR OF KEATS
ADONAIS:
ITS COMPOSITION AND BIBLIOGRAPHY ITS ARGUMENT GENERAL EXPOSITION
BION AND MOSCHUS
ADONAIS: PREFACE
ADONAIS
CANCELLED PASSAGES OF ADONAIS AND ITS PREFACE
NOTES PREFACE. Adonais is the first writing by Shelley which has been included in the
Clarendon Press Series . It is a poem of convenient length for such a
purpose, being neither short nor decidedly long; and leaving out of
count some of the short poems is the one by this author which
approaches nearest to being 'popular.' It is elevated in sentiment,
classical in form, in substance, biographical in relation to Keats, and
in some minor degree autobiographical for Shelley himself. On these
grounds it claimed a reasonable preference over all his other poems, for
the present method of treatment; although some students of Shelley,
myself included, might be disposed to maintain that, in point of
absolute intrinsic beauty and achievement, and of the qualities most
especially characteristic of its author, it is not superior, or indeed
is but barely equal, to some of his other compositions. To take, for
instance, two poems not very different in length from Adonais The
Witch of Atlas is more original, and Epipsychidion more abstract in
ideal. I have endeavoured to present in my introductory matter a comprehensive
account of all particulars relevant to Adonais itself, and to Keats as
its subject, and Shelley as its author. The accounts here given of both
these great poets are of course meagre, but I assume them to be not
insufficient for our immediate and restricted purpose. There are many
other books which the reader can profitably consult as to the life and
works of Shelley; and three or four (at least) as to the life and works
of Keats. My concluding notes are, I suppose, ample in scale: if they
are excessive, that is an involuntary error on my part. My aim in them
has been to illustrate and elucidate the poem in its details, yet
without travelling far afield in search of remote analogies or
discursive comment my wish being rather to 'stick to my text': wherever
a difficulty presents itself, I have essayed to define it, and clear it
up but not always to my own satisfaction. I have seldom had to discuss
the opinions of previous writers on the same points, for the simple
reason that of detailed criticism of Adonais , apart from merely
textual memoranda, there is next to none. It has appeared to me to be part of my duty to point out here and there,
but by no means frequently, some special beauty in the poem;
occasionally also something which seems to me defective or faulty. I am
aware that this latter is an invidious office, which naturally exposes
one to an imputation, from some quarters, of obtuseness, and, from
others, of presumption; none the less I have expressed myself with the
frankness which, according to my own view, belongs to the essence of
such a task as is here undertaken. Adonais is a composition which has
retorted beforehand upon its actual or possible detractors. In the poem
itself, and in the prefatory matter adjoined to it, Shelley takes
critics very severely to task: but criticism has its discerning and
temperate, as well as its 'stupid and malignant' phases. W.M. ROSSETTI. July, 1890.
MEMOIR OF SHELLEY.
The life of Percy Bysshe Shelley is one which has given rise to a great
deal of controversy, and which cannot, for a long time to come, fail to
be regarded with very diverse sentiments. His extreme opinions on
questions of religion and morals, and the great latitude which he
allowed himself in acting according to his own opinions, however widely
they might depart from the law of the land and of society, could not but
produce this result. In his own time he was generally accounted an
outrageous and shameful offender. At the present date many persons
entertain essentially the same view, although softened by lapse of
years, and by respect for his standing as a poet: others regard him as a
conspicuous reformer... Continue reading book >>
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