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Shelley, Percy Bysshe, 1792-1822

"Adonais"

'
1. 7. _Lost angel of a ruined paradise._ The ruined paradise is the
mind, now torpid in death, of Adonais. The 'Dream' which has been
speaking is a lost angel of this paradise, in the sense of being a
messenger or denizen of the mind of Adonais, incapacitated for
exercising any further action: indeed, the Dream forthwith fades, and is
for ever extinct.
1. 8. _With no stain._ Leaving no trace behind. The rhyme has entailed
the use of the word 'stain,' which is otherwise a little arbitrary in
this connexion.
1. 9. _She faded, like a cloud which had outwept its rain._ A rain-cloud
which has fully discharged its rain would no longer constitute a
cloud--it would be dispersed and gone. The image is therefore a very
exact one for the Dream which, having accomplished its function and its
life, now ceases to be. There appears to be a further parallel
intended--between the Dream whose existence closes in a _tear_, and the
rain-cloud which has discharged its _rain_: this is of less moment, and
verges upon a conceit. This passage in _Adonais_ is not without some
analogy to one in Keats's _Endymion_ (quoted on p.


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