Stanzas Written in

Dejection, Near Naples

Percy Shelley
Word Meanings
Dejection - A state of being sad/dejected.

Isle - A Small island

Solitude - The State of being alone, especially when you find it pleasant

Untrampled - Not trodden on

Noontide - noon

Borne - carried (especially used when referring to a burden/object)

Monotony - The state of always being the same/boring

Lament - A song, poem or other expression of sadness for something that has ended

Untimely - happening before the normal/proposed time, happening at an unsuitable time

About the Poem
The poem follows an “iambic pentameter”.

Last line of every stanza is longer than other lines.

First two stanzas contain heavy metaphors and descriptions.

Poem has a bit of descriptive, a lot is about the emotions of the poet.

Title suggests that it was written near Naples, a city in Italy. It also gives a hint as to the poet’s
feelings as he/she was writing the poem - a feeling of dejection.

Heavy use of metaphors

There is tragic foreshadowing.

About the Poet
Born Aug 4, 1792 in Field Place, near Horsham, Sussex, England.
Stood in line to inherit a seat in the parliament.
Attended Eton for 6 years in 1804, following which he went to Oxford. He started
writing poetry in Eton, however his first publication was a Gothic novel called
Zastrozzi. He was then expelled from Oxford after writing a publication on “The
Importance of Atheism”.
Died on July 8, 1822 in a storm, on a ship. where he drowned.
He was a romantic poet and had natural settings in his poem.
How the poem came about
Shelley moved to Naples for three months, during a period where he was depressed after the
death of his child Clara and the emotional estrangement from his wife, Mary. It was around this
time, December 1818, is when he wrote this poem.
https://poetryprof.com/stanzas-written-in-dejection-near-naples/
First Stanza
● There are visual, auditory and tactile imageries.
○ clear, snowy mountain, blue isles (visual)
○ Soft like Solitude’s (auditory)
○ Breath of moist Earth is light (tactile, it can be felt on skin, sense of touch)
● There is personification
○ Waves are dancing
○ Breath of the moist Earth
○ City’s voice
○ Mountain wear
● This makes the stanza hugely descriptive and lively.
● ‘Unexpanded buds’ - The flower buds aren’t open but because of breath of the moist Earth, the
buds will open up. This related to life.
● It tells us that someone can still feel depressed and dejected in such a beautiful scenery.
● The solitude here is the ‘lonely’ one. This tells us that the poet is alienated. Shows negativity.
First Stanza
● Lot of vitality (full of energy).
● Asyndeton is used (lack of conjunction).
○ The winds, the birds, the ocean floods, The City’s voice
● It is used to show monotony, to keep up the flow of the poem and to increase the rhythm.
● There is sibilance in the last line of the poem and is used to slow the poem down also giving a
sleepy or lulling effect.
● There is fertility, Earth is fertile.
● There are many positive words in the stanza.
○ Ex- clear, bright, delight, dancing
●
Second Stanza
● The poet stares down trying to see the untrampled or isolated , deep ocean floor. There is nobody
there, no disturbance, the poet is all alone adding up to his feeling of solitude.
● Hyperbole is used to highlight the poet’s emotion of solitude.
● The poet is seeing ocean waves.
● Simile is used when the poet says, “waves upon the shore, like light dissolved in start showers”.
● The waves are reflecting the light.
● It’s like the poet wants him to get completely covered by the waves or water. This is tragic
foreshadowing as the poet got drowned in the storm four years later.
● The second stanza is narrative.
● He is watching all this sitting on the stand ‘alone’ showing the feeling of poets when he is alone. He
also feels alienated from the nature. He is not even able to join the beauty of nature, hence, complete
solitude, loneliness.
Third Stanza
This is the first stanza in which the poet started telling fully about his emotion.
Poet is hopeless, and also has bad health.
The word “nor” has been utilised 9 times, it creates a powerful impression of things
not being there. It shows emptiness and absence. It has been used as anaphora
and repetition
The poet feels alienated, and it appears that others have fame, power, love and
leisure whereas, he doesn't have anything.
Asyndeton is used in line 6, “Nor fame, nor power, nor love, nor leisure.” This
highlights the feeling of emptiness as the word nor is repeated many times.
The excessive use of nor creates an hyperbolic show of emptiness
Fourth Stanza
The fourth stanza begins with a shift word “yet”
The poet is tired with all the hardships he is facing, he wants to just stop, hurdle up
and cry.

Poet is saying that he is so tired he’s almost numb to the despair he is feeling

Weeping shows deep despair it’s silent and its more serious than crying

Use of weak modal words; suggesting lethargy, uncertainty and tiredness

https://poetryprof.com/stanzas-written-in-dejection-near-naples/
 Fifth Stanza
Stanzas Written in Dejection, near Naples – Poetry Prof
Language
- In first stanza, there is heavy usage of simile, personification, asyndeton and
sibilance.
- Simile and personification are used to show that how the nature is so bright,
full of energy, effervescent and life affirming.
- The image of the moist earth and the buds not being open shows the fertility,
growth and life.
- Asyndeton creates a speed while leading to the last word of the first stanza i.e.
“Solitude”.
- Sibilance creates the hushing effect to slow things down connecting to the
mood poet is in.