Percy Bysshe Shelley, Alastor; or, The Spirit of Solitude

Madeleine Callaghan (University of Sheffield)

Ed. by Daniel Robinson, Widener University
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.06: English Writing and Culture of the Romantic Period, 1789-1837.
Vol. editors: Daniel Cook (University of Dundee), Daniel Robinson (Widener University)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1816

Places

England ()

Genres and Modes

Poem

Resources

In the minds of some critics, Alastor, published in 1816, represents Shelley’s first mature poem of length and power (Bloom 8). Praised in contemporary reviews by Leigh Hunt in The Examiner in December 1816 and John Gibson Lockhart in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine in November 1819, the volume also attracted critical censure from The Monthly Review and The Eclectic Review (see Barcus 95-105). Containing many of the themes, preoccupations, and ambiguities which feature in Shelley’s later poetry, Alastor reveals the multi-faceted quality of Shelley’s poetic vision (see de Man 44). Stuart Curran argues that the poem represents the middle ground between his early and his later work:

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3714 words

Citation: Callaghan, Madeleine. "Alastor; or, The Spirit of Solitude". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 20 January 2012 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=34177, accessed 22 November 2024.]

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