An Eternal Soul
by Lianna Manukyan
A poet’s spirit, mind and imagination, when released from its temporary “plastic stress” (381), do not die and decay with the body, but live on and are respected and honored for eternity. This is the belief that Shelly portrays through his poem, “Adonais” in which he laments the death of a perished young poet who he loves and respects. The poem begins with a lamentation of the loss of the body of the young poet, but later moves into a celebration of the soul that will live on forever. Also, in this poem we see a direct attack on the reviewers of a poet’s poetry. They are blamed for “piercing [the poet’s] innocent breast” (152) with their harsh words. Although Shelly is weeping for Keats’ death, he cleverly uses metaphors of gods and goddesses to explain the loss of Keats. This may seem ironic because gods and goddesses are immortal, whereas Keats, not only is a mortal, but he dies at a very young age. Later into the poem, when the reader begins to witness a form of celebration of the poet’s eternal name and glory, it becomes clear that the gods and goddesses simply imply that although Keats’ body may be lost and decayed, his soul is immortal and will continue to live on.
The poem beings
with the powerful line, “I weep for Adonais---he is dead!” (1)
In the mythological story of Adonais, he is a young and beautiful boy who
has to “spend half the year underworld with Persephone, and the other half
aboveground with Venus---a perpetual death and rebirth” (p 779).
Adonais becomes a metaphorical figure for Keats, who also died when he
was a young and beautiful youth, but will be reborn in his name and fame.
The first stanza ends with the lines, “Forget the Past, his fate and
fame shall be / An echo and a light unto eternity!” (8-9) We are told here to
disregard the fact that Adonais’ or Keats’ body is lost, and honor their
soul which will live on forever. Throughout
the next couple of stanzas we continue to witness the lamentation of the lost
youth, until we reach the fourth stanza in which we begin to hear a more bitter
tone. In this stanza we read, “He
died / Blind, old, and lonely, when his country’s pride, The priest, the
slave, and the liberticide, / Trampled and mocked with many loathed rite / Of
lust and blood” (30-35). These few
lines are referring to
There is a powerful passage in this poem where we are introduced to the reality of life and death. This stanza begins with the lines, “Ah woe is me! Winter is come and gone, / But grief returns with the revolving year” (154-155). The line about winter’s arrival and departure gives the reader an idea of nature moving on, completely ignorant to the human sufferings. Nature will continue its course regardless of how inert a human’s life may seem. The line that Shelley states that the grief will return with the next year implies that the sadness and grief is there to stay. The grief is not going anywhere, even though Nature continues to move rapidly. We continue to see the flow of Nature when we are told, “The airs and streams renew their joyous tone; / The ants, and bees, the swallows, re-appear” (156-157). The idea that Nature will just move on completely uninterested in the human grief is strengthened in these lines as the reader witnesses the continuous flow of life.
In the final stanzas of the poem, we begin to see a certain celebration of youthful death. Our roles become reversed with the young poets who have died. We become the decaying lifeless souls stuck in bodies, whereas they are the renowned and eternal spirits free of all temporary earthly burdens. We are told in stanza 41, that “He lives, he wakes—‘tis Death is dead, not he; / Mourn not for Adonais” (361-362). Finally, the celebration of Adonais’ soul begins. Shelley tells us that Adonais is not dead confirming that Adonais’ body is gone, but “The spirit [we] lament is not gone!” (363). Shelley makes it clear that Keats’ death saved him from the worldly worries when he says, “We decay / Like corpses in a charnel; fear and grief / Convulse us and consume us day by day / And cold hopes swarm like worms within our living clay” (348-351). It is implied here that although Adonais is physically dead, we are the ones who are actually lifeless and polluted with idealistic hopes. Shelley clearly implies that we are the unfortunate souls stuck on this temporary, cold and abyss world, while Adonais is safe and happy while “[His] soul, like a star, / Beacons from the abode where the Eternal are.” (494-495)
The process of this poem seems to be true of one’s reaction to the death of a loved when. It begins with sadness and disbelief while the poet laments the death of Keats. Later, it moves into an attempt to find the person responsible for the loss of the loved one. Finally, when the death is accepted the poem begins to celebrate the poet’s living fame and glory, making him a permanent part of our memory.