Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Creepy Crawly Things in Adonais
Why all the creepy crawly reptiles? The "green lizard and the golden snake" emerge with swallows and other birds (161). I understand it is spring and they are coming out of hibernation now that the weather is warmer, but they do not bring as pleasant an image as the birds and the flowers do. Possibly, while the birds are the re-birth of the beautiful season, the reptiles are the pain associated with the memory of Keats's death and how he died. In stanza 36, Shelley mentions the "viperous murderer [who] could crown/ Life's early cup with such a draught of woe" suggesting that the snakes and lizards are the stinging, poisonous remarks of the critics. Although these creatures are part of the natural landscape, they are traditionally sinister because of the Bible story of the Fall of Man.
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The description of these "creepy crawly" lizards and snakes as an "unimprisoned flame" in line 162 is somewhat telling. I like your interpretation of the emergence of these creatures as that of the critics and their painful remarks. Their juxtaposition with the rest of the springtime imagery could be making a statement as to the immortality of both Keats's legend AND the critics' wrongdoings. One cannot rid the world of one and keep the other- the two will exist eternally in writing and in the minds of studiers of literature everywhere. The notion of the latter as an "unimprisoned flame" suggests the critics have gone and will always go unpunished for the tragic death they caused. Also, their cruel remarks still burn the hearts and minds of Keats's fans, namely Shelley himself.
ReplyDeleteIts possible Shelley is playing on the passage in the Book of Acts when Peter has a vision of reptiles being grouped with all the kosher animals. Maybe the reptiles in Adonais are taking equal part in mourning with the birds and flowers.
ReplyDeleteTo play off of Miranda's comment, Shelley could have also chosen reptiles to contrast the floral imagery in order to suggest that the critics' negative responses will, like the reptiles, never go dormant or hibernate. On the other hand, the fauna experience cycles, which, although they may still be alive, will appear dead in their dormancy during the winter. Likewise, Keats' poetry may, like the fauna, go through periods of being read less often or not being appreciated as others, whereas his criticism, like the reptiles, will be more constant and at times stand out more than the poems themselves.
ReplyDeleteI think the reptiles can be understood as a reference to the postlapsarian pastoral. In the Garden of Eden (especially in Milton) pastoral imagery is heavily used, but obviously devoid of any reptilian or negative attributes. That is, until the entrance of Lucifer. After the temptation and surrender of Eve, the pastoral rapidly disintegrates and the garden becomes tainted by work, the rose gains its thorns, and reptilian creatures connote devilry. Keats' death is, in a way, therefore equated in potency to the original fall of man.
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