Describe the Procession of Mourners in “Adonais.”

Answer

 Describe the procession of mourners in “Adonais.”

“Adonais”(1821) is an elegy on the death of John Keats (1795-1821) by Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822). P. B. Shelley presents a vivid procession of mourners to honor the life and mourn the death of John Keats. The sorrowful gathering of both real and abstract mourners is seen in this poem.

Mythological Figures: Shelley includes mythological elements in the procession. He speaks of Urania, the muse of astronomy, mourning Keats’s death. For instance, 

Where wert thou, mighty Mother, when he lay,

       When thy Son lay, pierc’d by the shaft which flies

       In darkness? where was lorn Urania

       When Adonais died?

Poetic Heroes: The procession includes other poets and writers who are also mourners. They are depicted rising from their graves or places of rest to pay tribute to Keats. For example, Chatterton, Sidney, and Lucan rise from their graves to acknowledge Keats’s greatness: 

The inheritors of unfulfill’d renown

 Rose from their thrones, built beyond mortal thought,

Nature and Abstract Concepts: The procession expands to include elements of nature and abstract concepts. Nature mourns Keats’s death, represented by phenomena like the personified Nightingale, the Sun, the Earth, etc. For example, 

Lost Echo sits amid the voiceless mountains,

  And feeds her grief with his remember’d lay.

Unidentified Mourners: Some unidentified mourners express grief and sorrow over Keats’s death. They come together in a collective mourning for the departed poet. 

To conclude, the procession of mourners in “Adonais” contains nature, renowned poets, and unidentified mourners. All expressed profound sorrow and gave tribute to the departed poet, John Keats. Through vivid and symbolic language, Shelley captures the universal sorrow felt at the loss of Keats and honors his enduring legacy in the realm of poetry.