Actaeon
In myth, after seeing Diana bathing in a river, Actaeon was turned into a stag and hunted and eaten by his own dogs.
Adonais
Derivative of Adonis. In Greek mythology, the handsome youth was loved by Venus and slain by a boar. In Shelley’s poem, the “beast” responsible for slaying “Adonais” (Keats) is an anonymous author of a scathing review of Keats’ poem "Endymion." (The reviewer was later identified as John Wilson Croker.)
Aerial
Of our belonging to the air (in this case, it suggests a "sky-like" color).
Albion
England (here, a reference to Blake's "Marriage Between Heaven and Hell").
Anadem
A garland of flowers
Aught
Anything
Awful
Deserving of awe. In Shelley's time, this would have meant what today would be the adjective "awesome" instead of "terrible."
Azure
The blue color of a clear sky
Balm
Resin from a tree used as medicine
Band and Tower and Parliament
Three institutional locations in London referring to Business, Law, and Government
Blithe
Cheerful (perhaps, cheerfully unaware of harsh reality)
Bower
Area enclosed by trees, shrubs, and branches
Brere
Brier (a patch of shrubs, usually fruit-bearing)
Carrion Kites
Large birds of prey, specifically hawks
Castlereagh
British Foreign Secretary Viscount Castlereagh (aka Robert Stewart)
Champak
An Indian species of magnolia flower that smells like orange citrus
Chorus Hymeneal
“Wedding-song,” but here, Shelley is being cheeky and perverse, drawing reference to the specific act of love-making or capturing the virginity of a new-found lover.
Clarion
Trumpet, or the sharp sound of a bugle
Clips
Embraces
Consecrate
To make holy or sacred
Countenance
Composure; facial expression
Crag
A steep rock rising above or sticking out from a mountain
Daedal Earth
Intricately formed (derived from Daedalus, builder of the labyrinth in Crete)
Daemon
A supernatural being, halfway between the mortals and the gods
Dell
A small wooded valley
Dirge
A funeral hymn
Dost
Does
Dregs
Sediment at the bottom of liquid; worthless particles
Drone
A male honeybee that does no work
Echo
In Greek mythology, Echo was a nymph who faded into becoming a reverberated sound after Narcissus rejected her (due to falling in love with his own reflection instead)
Eldon
Lord Chancellor Baron Eldon, aka John Scott. Baron Eldon was the court chancellor who denied Shelley access to his children by Harriet Westbrook after her death.
Embower
To enclose in wooden shrubbery or bower
Ensanguined
Having something like a birthmark. God branded Cain with a “bloodmark” for killing his brother Abel.
Ermined
An ermine is a weasel of northern climate that is unique because its fur turns from brown to white in the winter. Because of this distinction, its fur was used for state robes and royalty.
Fond
Foolish
Gauls
A Celtic people, the French before France was a country; here, Shelley is using the term in reference to Revolutionary France.
Gird
To encircle or enclose; to endow; to prepare oneself
Glorious Phantom
A revolution
High Capital
Rome
Hoary brand
A burning log
Hyacinth
In myth, Hyacinth was loved by Apollo, but killed by Zephyrus out of jealousy. Apollo turned the departed into a flower.
Ierne
Ireland
Illumine
Illuminate; shine a light on; figuratively, to make understood
Impetuous
Impulsive
Incantation
Chant, often magical
Joyance
Joyous feeling
Knell
solemn ringing of a bell, as an omen or a sign of death
Liberticide
One who destroys liberty
Lyre
A small harp-like instrument
Maenad
A priest or priestess (specifically, Bacchante, meaning a follower of Bacchus, aka Dionysus)
Mien
Manner
Mire
soggy ground, or to bog down
Mutability
Ability to change or to be changed
Nightingale
A small bird known for its incredibly melodious singing; metaphorically, a poet, or the poetic muse
Ozymandias
King Ramses II of Egypt, whose tomb was sculpted to resemble a male sphinx. According to Greek history, the statue of him was the largest statue in Egypt in its time.
Pageant
A parade
Palsied
Paralyzed
Pardlike
Leopard-like
Pestilence
Contagious disease; plague; something very dangerous to society
Phalanx
A group formed for a purpose, especially an ordered one like an army
Pilgrim of Eternity
Lord Byron
Plastic
Formative; shaping; malleable
Poesy
Poetry
Pumice
A light rock used to smooth and polish objects
Ruth
Pity
Sage
A very wise man
Sanguine
The color of blood
Satiety
State of being sated or satiated, that is, being full or having more than enough
Scepter
A ruler's symbolic staff
Scimitar
A short, Arabic sword
Scourge
Whip
Sepulcher
Tomb
Sere
Dried, withered
Shrill
High and piercing
Sidmouth
British Home Secretary Viscount Sidmouth, aka Henry Addington
Silver sphere
The morning star
Skylark
A small European bird. It sings only in flight, mostly when it is too high to be seen; it therefore is only heard. As a result, British mythology made the bird an emblem of spirit and joy.
Slake
Assuage, satisfy
Sprite
Spirit; a spirit-like being
Surfeiting
Over-indulging
Sweetest lyrist
Sir Thomas More, an Irish poet who had written poetry on the oppression of Ireland by the British, including the renowned Utopia
Tares
Weeds, plants
Targes
Large shields
Tempestuous
Violent; stormy
Torpor
Dullness
Unbidden
Spontaneously; doing something unbidden is to do it without being told or encouraged to do so
Urania
Venus. In Greek Mythology, the muse of astronomy. Shelley makes the Greek goddess the “mighty mother” of Adonais instead of his lover, as in the original myth.
Vale
A valley
Vaunt
To boast
Vernal
Springlike
Visage
A face
Wert
Old way of saying "were," as in "you were"
Wherefore
Why
Winged reeds
Arrows
Witch poesy
The part of the mind that creates poetry; mental experience in general
