-Brian Mendonca
It is a fact seldom acknowledged that the English Romantic poets were obsessed with death. Far from the lyrical halo with which they have often been portrayed, poets like Wordsworth, Keats and Shelley have been at pains to learn an acceptance of death - and this search led them to scale the heights of poetry.
Percy Bysshe Shelley's 'Adonais' (1821) was written in memory of his friend Keats (1795-1821) who was his contemporary. Shelley (1792-1822) reconciles himself to the passing by saying that Keats - who died at 25 - is in a better place now.
The opening verse unveils the spectacle of horror confronted by a corpse. The body has turned icy cold. All the mourners tears are in vain. Keats is in the firm grip of Death. The hour of his death is personified and addressed as being momentous because Keats died on his beat.
In verse 2 Urania is called for. She is the mother of Adonais. In verse 3 the poet continues to implore Urania to descend and look at her dead son. In verse 4 he says though Keats was vilified in his time he approached death 'unterrified.' v. 5-6 speak about the youthfulness of Keats and how he was taken in his prime. Many ripen to an old age to acquire glory but Keats had achieved it young.
V. 7 is very Shakespearean. It recalls Romeo and Juliet, the burial chamber, where Romeo laments the death of Juliet. Here too the Italian marble of the grave is held askance as if in disbelief whether Keats is actually dead or only in slumber. The scene is dramatized for effect. In v. 8 Corruption is personified as waiting to sully the fair body when it is time and change is decreed from one state to another. In v. 9 the dreams of Keats are summoned to bid him farewell. One of the dreams claims Keats as she spies a teardrop fall from his eyes (v.10)
Desire, Adoration, Splendour and Pleasure arrive to pay their last respects. (v. 12-13). Morning (v.14) and Echo (v.15) grieve over the death of Keats. There is chaos in the seasons. Spring behaves like Autumn throwing down dead leaves. (v.16) The eagle and the nightingale are beside themselves with sorrow. (v. 17)
V.18 calls for a change of mood. Winter is come and gone, but grief remains. The poet finds no joy in the changing seasons. The forest world awakes to new promise but the poet is overwhelmed by loss. V. 19-20 are a study in contrast. Whereas v. 19 speaks about the 'lamps of heaven,' v. 20 is about 'the leprous corpse.' The kernel of the elegy is contained in the lines from v. 21: 
Whence are we, and why are we? Of what scene
The actors and spectators? Great and mean
Meet mass'd in death, who lends what life must borrow.
Memory in the form of a snake exhorts Urania to rise in v. 22. She descends to see Adonais. (v. 23) Her journey to the place of repose is described in v. 24. Once she meets Death she implores Death to release Keats. (v. 25) In a heart-rending verse Urania pleads for one last kiss before Keats dies - the memory of which will succeed other memories. Being denied this, she says she would give anything to die with Keats but she 'is chained to Time.' (v. 26)
The poet asks why Keats tempted fate when he was so young. There is a beautiful image given of his brief life which is compared to a crescent. The poet asks why he did not live out his true potential and fill out the full sphere of the moon. (v. 27). V. 28 is replete with images of death like vultures, ravens and wolves who clamour over the dead. Keats's life is compared to the sun which animates all life when it rises. When it sets, it leaves this office to the remaining lamps to combat the 'spirit's awful night.' (v. 29) Keats is a 'Pilgrim of Eternity,' yet a frail form. (v. 30-31) Bedecked in flowers of farewell of pansies, violets and cypresses, Keats is described as a 'herd-abandon'd deer struck by a hunter's dart.' (v. 33)
In a change of mood, the poet asks for calm. He wishes not to associate himself with 'the carrion kites screaming below' for he wakes or sleeps 'with the enduring dead.' He is now 'a portion of the Eternal.' He has passed from the mortal state to another. (v. 38) In an astounding argument Shelley says Keats is neither dead nor asleep. He has, in fact, awoken from the dream of life. As compared to him we are lesser beings since we decay like 'corpses in a charnel.'(v. 39)
In v. 40 the poet seems to be done with remorse. He is more positive now and says Keats has 'outsoar'd the shadow of our night.' He is beyond, envy, slander and pain. He does not have to worry about ageing. The next verse gives a call for nature to rejoice as Keats is not dead. His spirit still lives (v. 41) for 'He is made one with Nature.' His being is manifested everywhere from the moan of thunder to the night bird's song. (v. 42)
Keats joins Chatterton, Sidney and Lucan who died and are remembered fondly. They scorned Oblivion as their work was a testament to their enduring relevance.(v. 45) Keats is invited to ascend to heaven and take his seat to rule on high. (v. 46) In a volte-face , the poet says that a person who believes Keats is dead is a 'wretch.' (v. 47) Shelley spurns the tombs of Rome and urges us to go and see the 'laughing flowers' (v. 49) The stone slab of Keats is brought before our eyes. It rises proudly 'like flame transform'd to marble.' And though we lose Keats there are many more who have pitched their 'camp of death' (died) who are there to welcome him. (v. 50)
Death is the only refuge, Shelley seems to conclude. 'From the world's bitter wind, seek shelter in the shadow of the tomb.' Adonais is held up as a model. We would do well to follow him.(v. 51) In the next verse Shelley gets more insistent. He says Life should not separate us from Death. (v. 53) Birth is a curse and it is well to be rid of the 'cold mortality.' (v. 54) Riven with exhaustion till the last verse, Shelley is transformed by his writing. His elegy is over. His catharsis is done - all passion spent. He is 'borne darkly fearfully afar.' The soul of Adonais beckons like a star.' (v. 55)
Shelley did not have to wait long. He died the following year, at the age of 29.
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Pic courtesy (top) Keats-Shelley House; (middle) Keats, courtesy m.dailykos(dot)com. Blog updated 23 May 2020.
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