Queen Mab: A Philosophical Poem

Mortality is a significant theme in the poem’s first stanzas. As Ianthe lies asleep, the speaker narrator rues the fact that she will die and that her beauty will decay—“a gloomy theme” (Line 1.21), but an inevitable one. Descriptions of Ianthe contain repeated imagery of translucence and transparence—her “azure veins” are visible, flowing as if across “a field of snow,” (Line 1.14-15) and even her eyelids are so delicate that the “the dark blue orbs” (Line 1.38-39) of her eyes are can be seen through them. This suggests that Ianthe is already ghostly, hovering between sleep and death though still a young woman. It also foreshadows the separation of her spirit from her physical body when Queen Mab casts her spell.

The poem is also concerned with the theme of decay. Ianthe is compared to a sculpture: Her skin is like “breathing marble” (Line 1.17) and her hair curls around her body like a vine “around a marble column” (Line 1.44). These references to Classical sculpture bring up images of ancient ruins, a connection explicitly made in Line 47, when Queen’s Mab’s carriage sounds like wind rushing through a “lonely ruin” (Line 1.47). Shelley is using this imagery to suggest the tension between decay and immortality. Only the soul can stand against the decay of time and death, standing “immortal amid ruin” (Line 1.138) while the physical body breaks down like a “worn-out machine” (Line 1.155).

Lines 88-94 feature a poetic device called parallelism—the repetition of a grammatical structure for emphasis. Here, the awe that Queen Mab’s presence inspires surpasses “all human glory” (Line 1.87), occluding the sight and sound of everything else. This moment of the sublime—a common feature in Romantic poetry, which sought to portray emotionally or psychologically overwhelming experiences—sets the scene for the ascension of Ianthe’s spirit with her new guide. As Ianthe ascends with Queen Mab into a higher realm, Ianthe’s soul breaks off the chains that connect her to the earth like they are “bandages of straw” (Line 1.190). Queen Mab praises Ianthe’s soul, which is strong enough to break free of the “icy chains of custom” (Line 1.127) by overcoming the selfishness that characterizes human life on earth.

The poem thus elevates the spirit realm over the earthly world. The strength of Ianthe’s soul—much brawnier than her transparent and decaying body—represents the freedom that her soul is experiencing as it has become disembodied from her flesh. The poem argues that humanity must shift toward a societal structure more aligned with the needs of the spirit, a theme that will be explored in depth in later sections.