_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.