Alastor, or The Spirit of Solitude

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Alastor, or The Spirit of Solitude is a poem by Percy Bysshe Shelley, written from 10 September to 14 December in 1815 in Bishopsgate, near Windsor Great Park and first published in 1816 in London by Baldwin, Cradock, and Joy.. The poem was without a title when Shelley passed it along to his contemporary and friend Thomas Love Peacock. The poem is 720 lines long. It is considered to be one of the first of Shelley's major poems. It is a blank-verse tale recounting an idealistic poet’s search for perfect love and knowledge. It explores the themes of idealism versus realism and the futility of abstractions devoid of human connection. The narrator relates how a young and visionary poet abandons society and travels to unexplored and desolate regions in the Caucasus and Arabia in quest of a perfect or ideal love, a "veiled maid" which he sees in a dream. "Alastor" is an avenging spirit that punishes narcissism and self-centered intellectual obsessions that displace "sweet human love" and society. Nature mirrors the poet's inner thoughts and emotions which begin as redolent and vibrant but turn barren and desolate. The poet ultimately rejects human connection, represented by the "Arab maiden", instead pursuing his ideal or abstract dream or vision. His quest ends tragically as he dies in solitude and isolation. Peacock suggested the name Alastor, which comes from Roman mythology. Peacock has defined Alastor as "evil genius". The name does not refer to the hero or Poet of the poem, however, but instead to the spirit who divinely animates the Poet's imagination.

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Detalhes

Tipo

Livro

Lançamento

1 de janeiro de 1816

Criado por

Percy Bysshe Shelley