The poem would thus have
borne a certain relation to _Alastor_, and also to _Epipsychidion_. The
use of the name 'Urania' in this proposed title may help to confirm us
in the belief that there is no reason why Shelley should not have used
the same name in _Adonais_ with the implied meaning of Aphrodite Urania.
On the whole I am strongly of opinion that the Urania of _Adonais_ is
Aphrodite, and not the Muse.
ADONAIS:
GENERAL EXPOSITION.
The consideration which, in the preceding section, we have bestowed upon
the 'Argument' of _Adonais_ will assist us not a little in grasping the
full scope of the poem. It may be broadly divided into three currents of
thought, or (as one might say) into three acts of passion. I. The sense
of grievous loss in the death of John Keats the youthful and aspiring
poet, cut short as he was approaching his prime; and the instinctive
impulse to mourning and desolation. 2. The mythical or symbolic
embodiment of the events in the laments of Urania and the Mountain
Shepherds, and in the denunciation of the ruthless destroyer of the
peace and life of Adonais.
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