Adonais

Edited by William Michael Rossetti

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"Adonais" by Percy Bysshe Shelley is a pastoral elegy written in 1821 for the poet John Keats. Composed in 55 Spenserian stanzas immediately after Shelley learned of Keats's death, the poem follows the English tradition of Milton's "Lycidas." It begins with mourning and despair as Urania and fellow poets lament the loss. But the elegy transforms into a meditation on death and eternity, ultimately celebrating Keats as part of an eternal Spirit beyond earthly pain, where he joins other immortal poets among the stars.

Summary written by Project Gutenberg, by machine.