54, &c.
1. 4. Thou canst not soar where he is sitting now. This is again
addressed to the 'deaf and viperous murderer,' regarded for the
moment as a 'carrion kite.' As kites are eminently high flyers,
the phrase here used becomes the more emphatic. This line of
Shelley's is obviously adapted from a passage in Milton's _Paradise
Lost_, where Satan addresses the angels in Eden (Book 4)--
'Ye knew me once, no mate
For you, there sitting where ye durst not soar.'
1. 5. _The pure spirit shall flow_, &c. The spirit which once was the
vital or mental essence--the soul--of Adonais came from the Eternal
Soul, and, now that he is dead, is re-absorbed into the Eternal Soul: as
such, it is imperishable.
1. 9. _Whilst thy cold embers choke_, &c. The spirit of Adonais came as
a flame from the 'burning fountain' of the Eternal, and has now reverted
thither, he being one of the 'enduring dead.' But the 'deaf and viperous
murderer' must not hope for a like destiny. His spirit, after death,
will be merely like 'cold embers,' cumbering the 'hearth of shame.' As a
rhetorical antithesis, this serves its purpose well: no doubt Shelley
would not have pretended that it is a strictly reasoned antithesis as
well, or furnishes a full account of the _post-mortem_ fate of the
_Quarterly_ reviewer.
Pages:
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213