The Complete Poetical Works of Percy Bysshe Shelley Part 24

And blighting hope, who with the news of death Struck body and soul as with a mortal blight, She saw between the chestnuts, far beneath,

An old man toiling up, a weary wight; _155 And soon within her hospitable hall She saw his white hairs glittering in the light

Of the wood fire, and round his shoulders fall; And his wan visage and his withered mien, Yet calm and gentle and majestical. _160

And Athanase, her child, who must have been Then three years old, sate opposite and gazed In patient silence.

FRAGMENT 2.

Such was Zonoras; and as daylight finds One amaranth glittering on the path of frost, _165 When autumn nights have nipped all weaker kinds,

Thus through his age, dark, cold, and tempest-tossed, Shone truth upon Zonoras; and he filled From fountains pure, nigh overgrown and lost,

The spirit of Prince Athanase, a child, _170 With soul-sustaining songs of ancient lore And philosophic wisdom, clear and mild.

And sweet and subtle talk they evermore, The pupil and the master, shared; until, Sharing that undiminishable store, _175

The youth, as shadows on a gra.s.sy hill Outrun the winds that chase them, soon outran His teacher, and did teach with native skill

Strange truths and new to that experienced man; Still they were friends, as few have ever been _180 Who mark the extremes of life's discordant span.

So in the caverns of the forest green, Or on the rocks of echoing ocean h.o.a.r, Zonoras and Prince Athanase were seen

By summer woodmen; and when winter's roar _185 Sounded o'er earth and sea its blast of war, The Balearic fisher, driven from sh.o.r.e,

Hanging upon the peaked wave afar, Then saw their lamp from Laian's turret gleam, Piercing the stormy darkness, like a star _190

Which pours beyond the sea one steadfast beam, Whilst all the constellations of the sky Seemed reeling through the storm...They did but seem--

For, lo! the wintry clouds are all gone by, And bright Arcturus through yon pines is glowing, _195 And far o'er southern waves, immovably

Belted Orion hangs--warm light is flowing From the young moon into the sunset's chasm.-- 'O, summer eve! with power divine, bestowing

'On thine own bird the sweet enthusiasm _200 Which overflows in notes of liquid gladness, Filling the sky like light! How many a spasm

'Of fevered brains, oppressed with grief and madness, Were lulled by thee, delightful nightingale,-- And these soft waves, murmuring a gentle sadness,-- _205

'And the far sighings of yon piny dale Made vocal by some wind we feel not here.-- I bear alone what nothing may avail

'To lighten--a strange load!'--No human ear Heard this lament; but o'er the visage wan _210 Of Athanase, a ruffling atmosphere

Of dark emotion, a swift shadow, ran, Like wind upon some forest-bosomed lake, Gla.s.sy and dark.--And that divine old man

Beheld his mystic friend's whole being shake, _215 Even where its inmost depths were gloomiest-- And with a calm and measured voice he spake,

And, with a soft and equal pressure, pressed That cold lean hand:--'Dost thou remember yet When the curved moon then lingering in the west _220

'Paused, in yon waves her mighty horns to wet, How in those beams we walked, half resting on the sea?

'Tis just one year--sure thou dost not forget--

'Then Plato's words of light in thee and me Lingered like moonlight in the moonless east, _225 For we had just then read--thy memory

'Is faithful now--the story of the feast; And Agathon and Diotima seemed From death and dark forgetfulness released...'

FRAGMENT 3.

And when the old man saw that on the green Leaves of his opening ... a blight had lighted _230 He said: 'My friend, one grief alone can wean

A gentle mind from all that once delighted:-- Thou lovest, and thy secret heart is laden With feelings which should not be unrequited.' _235

And Athanase ... then smiled, as one o'erladen With iron chains might smile to talk (?) of bands Twined round her lover's neck by some blithe maiden, And said...

FRAGMENT 4.

'Twas at the season when the Earth upsprings _240 From slumber, as a sphered angel's child, Shadowing its eyes with green and golden wings,

Stands up before its mother bright and mild, Of whose soft voice the air expectant seems-- So stood before the sun, which shone and smiled _245

To see it rise thus joyous from its dreams, The fresh and radiant Earth. The h.o.a.ry grove Waxed green--and flowers burst forth like starry beams;--

The gra.s.s in the warm sun did start and move, And sea-buds burst under the waves serene:-- _250 How many a one, though none be near to love,

Loves then the shade of his own soul, half seen In any mirror--or the spring's young minions, The winged leaves amid the copses green;--

How many a spirit then puts on the pinions _255 Of fancy, and outstrips the lagging blast, And his own steps--and over wide dominions

Sweeps in his dream-drawn chariot, far and fast, More fleet than storms--the wide world shrinks below, When winter and despondency are past. _260

FRAGMENT 5.

'Twas at this season that Prince Athanase Pa.s.sed the white Alps--those eagle-baffling mountains Slept in their shrouds of snow;--beside the ways

The waterfalls were voiceless--for their fountains Were changed to mines of sunless crystal now, _265 Or by the curdling winds--like brazen wings

Which clanged along the mountain's marble brow-- Warped into adamantine fretwork, hung And filled with frozen light the chasms below.

Vexed by the blast, the great pines groaned and swung _270 Under their load of [snow]-- ...

Such as the eagle sees, when he dives down From the gray deserts of wide air, [beheld] _275 [Prince] Athanase; and o'er his mien (?) was thrown

The shadow of that scene, field after field, Purple and dim and wide...

FRAGMENT 6.