Stanzas Written in Dejection, near Naples

• Summary

  • Poem is about isolation, alienation, and the vast beauty of nature.
  • Lovely day by the Italian seaside that the despairing and lonely speaker is too disheartened to appreciate.
  • Beauty of nature highlights the depth of the speaker's suffering, viewing it as an insult towards nature's splendour.
  • Eventually as the poem progresses the speaker seems to be soothed and lulled by his surroundings, suggesting nature's power puts human troubles into perspective.
• Context

  • Written in 1818 while Percy Shelley was living in Naples.
  • Shelley was extremely depressed, his health was poor, his young daughter Clara died, and Mary was also deeply depressed and isolation from Shelley.
  • Shelley lost custody of his two children with Harriet and was not received well by most of the public and critics.
• Structure/Rhythm

  • Written in iambic tetrameter. The most 'pleasing' structure for a poem in the English language was in pentameter, so the reader may feel Shelley's sense of discomfort through the shortened lines.
  • Consistent rhythm mimics the monotony of his life and the repetitive nature of his depressing thoughts.
  • Each stanza maintains an ABAB until the end, perhaps reflecting Shelley's attempts to persist in spite of his depression.
• Theme of Isolation and Despair

  • Speaker sees the beauty of nature surrounding him, but this makes him more aware of his own suffering and isolation.
  • The speaker laments the bad luck he's been "dealt" in life as he doesn't have a single friend, begrudging those who walk around "smiling" and find living pleasant.
  • His despair seemingly becomes so unbearable that he'd like to stop living altogether, or alternatively considers "dying" by the ocean as not a bad idea.
• Theme of the Consolations of Nature

  • Nature can offer both comfort and perspective.
  • The natural world helps the speaker realise that his own sufferings are only temporary, while the beauty and serenity of nature are everlasting.
  • Natural beauty has the power to soften or dull pain, with the speaker feeling that "lying down" and "dying" beside the ocean wouldn't be so bad.
  • Poem shows that human sorrows are impermanent, but nature endures and its beauty persists.
• Stanza 1

  • Contrasts the title as it is a more positive stanza in which the speaker appreciates nature and the sublime.
  • Personification of the "waves are dancing" conveys the association of dancing with celebration, freedom, creating a sense of liberation.
  • Simple language reflects the simpleness in the beauty of nature.
  • "unexpanded buds" suggests a sense of potential, linking to fertility and growth.
  • Semantic field of optimism suggests the speaker wants to get better.
• "The City's voice itself, is soft like Solitude's.

  • Personification and capitalisation of "City" may refer to Naples.
  • Simile reflects that the city is calm, emphasised by the capitalised "Solitude" making it seem important (archaic sense of importance).
  • Sibilance suggests peace and tranquility, evoking a soothing tone that reflects the quietness of the speaker's contemplation.
  • Continuous use of personification conveys that the world is just as alive as humans are.
• "I see the Deep's untrampled floor (...) dissolved in star-showers."

  • Anaphora (repetition) of "I see" conveys the Romantic focus on one's own individual experience with the sublime.
  • "untrampled" suggests it is beyond human reach, an underwater world where no one else has been.
  • Perhaps shows a contrast between the speaker's inner feelings and the nature surrounding him.
  • "dissolved" may display the speaker's desire to plunge into water and dissolve. This may highlight Shelley's depression.
  • Plurality of "star-showers" emphasises speaker's loneliness.
• Stanza 2

  • "I sit upon the sands alone" use of caesura conveys a change in mood and tone of the poem, going from peaceful to relentless nature.
  • Pathetic fallacy of "lighting" and "flashing" connotes the intense emotions felt by the speaker: anger and danger, reflective of the speaker's own internal battles.
  • Concrete nouns of "earth" and "shore" contrast with abstract ideas of "transparent might."
  • Suggests Shelley is no longer in harmony with nature, trapped in depression and unable to connect with the beauty of Naples.
• "Alas! I have nor hope nor health, // Nor peace within nor calm around."

  • "nor hope nor health" suggests the speaker's depression has taken a toll on him both mentally and physically, placing his mental health in a position of importance.
  • Polyptoton (repetition) of "nor" emphasises everything the speaker doesn't have or has lost. Contextual link of Shelley losing custody of his children with Harriet. This is highlighted by the exclamation.
  • Aspirant alliteration (h sounds) resemble releasing breath, suggesting release of negative emotions.
• "Nor fame, nor power, nor love, nor leisure."

  • Polyptoton (repetition) of "nor" presents everything that the speaker deems desirable.
  • Everything he lacks is an abstraction, missing spiritual and emotional contentment.
  • The speaker seems envious of those who walk around "smiling" and enjoying being alive. The preposition of "surround" suggests others have excess of these things.
  • List conveys sense of breathlessness and dejection.
  • Asyndeton reflects Shelley's troubles piling up relentlessly.
  • "Nor fame" may refer to Shelley's poems not being received by critics.
• "Smiling they live, and call life pleasure; // To me that cup has been dealt in another measure."

  • The speaker seems envious of those who walk around "smiling" and those who find enjoyment and "pleasure" out of being alive.
  • He distances himself from other people and alienates himself for not being able to find joy like them.
  • "cup has been dealt in another measure" implies fate and chance, his treatment has been unfair with a lack of happy qualities.
  • Religious imagery of "cup" as a metaphor of the good things in life.
• "I could lie down like a tired child."

  • Romantic idea of the innocence of children.
  • Simile suggests a sense of vulnerability, a longing to be soothed and lulled like a child. Shelley may need nurture, care, and love which he didn't get from his struggling wife. Highlights loneliness.
  • Semantic field of lack of enthusiasm (lethargy) shown by "lie down" and "tired." Emphasises a lack of energy possibly due to depression.
  • Childhood normally connotes energy, being full of life and nature. This oxymoron conveys disconnect from nature and depression.
• "I am one // Whom men love not, - and yet regret."

  • The speaker may be satisfied with the fact that people may "regret" not missing and "love[ing]" him, however there is a sense of bitterness in his tone.
  • Reflects the inconsistency of people's feelings towards him.
  • The dash creates caesura which isolates the phrase and highlights the importance of it, as well as how the speaker feels sorry for himself.
• "its stainless glory set, // Will linger, though enjoyed, like joy in memory yet."

  • "linger" suggests that nature's beauty will remain in people's "memories" as people feel sorrow and pity for him.
  • The speaker seems at peace that through death his sorrow and suffering will come to an end.
  • Context - Shelley lost his young daughter, Clara (Mary Shelley's daughter) at the time of writing, his grief may be reflected in this poem with the final line suggesting the joyful "memory" of his daughter remains.
  • The speaker finds joy in nature, experiencing the sublime despite the loss of his daughter.