ABSTRACT
“Alastor” is written in a very different tone from “Queen Mab.” In the latter, Shelley poured out all the cherished speculations of his youth – all the irrepressible emotions of sympathy, censure, and hope, to which the present suffering, and what he considers the proper destiny of his fellow-creatures, gave birth. “Alastor,” on the contrary, contains an individual interest only. A very few years, with their attendant events, had checked the ardour of Shelley’s hopes, though he still thought them well grounded, and that to advance their fulfilment was the noblest task man could achieve.
