The Complete Poetical Works of Percy Bysshe Shelley Part 143

[Published by Mrs. Sh.e.l.ley, "Posthumous Poems", 1824.]

1.

I pant for the music which is divine, My heart in its thirst is a dying flower; Pour forth the sound like enchanted wine, Loosen the notes in a silver shower; Like a herbless plain, for the gentle rain, _5 I gasp, I faint, till they wake again.

2.

Let me drink of the spirit of that sweet sound, More, oh more,--I am thirsting yet; It loosens the serpent which care has bound Upon my heart to stifle it; _10 The dissolving strain, through every vein, Pa.s.ses into my heart and brain.

3.

As the scent of a violet withered up, Which grew by the brink of a silver lake, When the hot noon has drained its dewy cup, _15 And mist there was none its thirst to slake-- And the violet lay dead while the odour flew On the wings of the wind o'er the waters blue--

4.

As one who drinks from a charmed cup Of foaming, and sparkling, and murmuring wine, _20 Whom, a mighty Enchantress filling up, Invites to love with her kiss divine...

NOTES: _16 mist 1824; tank 1839, 2nd edition.

SONNET TO BYRON.

[Published by Medwin, "The Sh.e.l.ley Papers", 1832 (lines 1-7), and "Life of Sh.e.l.ley", 1847 (lines 1-9, 12-14). Revised and completed from the Bos...o...b.. ma.n.u.script by Rossetti, "Complete Poetical Works of P. B. S.", 1870.]

[I am afraid these verses will not please you, but]

If I esteemed you less, Envy would kill Pleasure, and leave to Wonder and Despair The ministration of the thoughts that fill The mind which, like a worm whose life may share A portion of the unapproachable, _5 Marks your creations rise as fast and fair As perfect worlds at the Creator's will.

But such is my regard that nor your power To soar above the heights where others [climb], Nor fame, that shadow of the unborn hour _10 Cast from the envious future on the time, Move one regret for his unhonoured name Who dares these words:--the worm beneath the sod May lift itself in homage of the G.o.d.

NOTES: _1 you edition 1870; him 1832; thee 1847.

_4 So edition 1870; My soul which as a worm may haply share 1832; My soul which even as a worm may share 1847.

_6 your edition 1870; his 1832; thy 1847.

_8, _9 So edition 1870 wanting 1832 - But not the blessings of thy happier lot, Nor thy well-won prosperity, and fame 1847.

_10, _11 So edition 1870; wanting 1832, 1847.

_12-_14 So 1847, edition 1870; wanting 1832.

FRAGMENT ON KEATS.

[Published by Mrs. Sh.e.l.ley, "Poetical Works", 1839, 1st edition--ED.]

ON KEATS, WHO DESIRED THAT ON HIS TOMB SHOULD BE INSCRIBED--

'Here lieth One whose name was writ on water.

But, ere the breath that could erase it blew, Death, in remorse for that fell slaughter, Death, the immortalizing winter, flew Athwart the stream,--and time's printless torrent grew _5 A scroll of crystal, blazoning the name Of Adonais!

FRAGMENT: 'METHOUGHT I WAS A BILLOW IN THE CROWD'.

[Published by Rossetti, "Complete Poetical Works of P. B. S.", 1870.]

Methought I was a billow in the crowd Of common men, that stream without a sh.o.r.e, That ocean which at once is deaf and loud; That I, a man, stood amid many more By a wayside..., which the aspect bore _5 Of some imperial metropolis, Where mighty shapes--pyramid, dome, and tower-- Gleamed like a pile of crags--

TO-MORROW.

[Published by Mrs. Sh.e.l.ley, "Posthumous Poems", 1824.]

Where art thou, beloved To-morrow?

When young and old, and strong and weak, Rich and poor, through joy and sorrow, Thy sweet smiles we ever seek,-- In thy place--ah! well-a-day! _5 We find the thing we fled--To-day.

STANZA.

[Published by Rossetti, "Complete Poetical Works of P. B. S.", 1870.

Connected by Dowden with the preceding.]

If I walk in Autumn's even While the dead leaves pa.s.s, If I look on Spring's soft heaven,-- Something is not there which was Winter's wondrous frost and snow, _5 Summer's clouds, where are they now?

FRAGMENT: A WANDERER.

[Published by Mrs. Sh.e.l.ley, "Poetical Works", 1839, 1st edition.]

He wanders, like a day-appearing dream, Through the dim wildernesses of the mind; Through desert woods and tracts, which seem Like ocean, homeless, boundless, unconfined.

FRAGMENT: LIFE ROUNDED WITH SLEEP.

[Published by Mrs. Sh.e.l.ley, "Poetical Works", 1839, 2nd edition.]

The babe is at peace within the womb; The corpse is at rest within the tomb: We begin in what we end.

FRAGMENT: 'I FAINT, I PERISH WITH MY LOVE!'.