Classic and Contemporary Poetry
LINES (1), by PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: The cold earth slept below Last Line: Might visit thee at will. Subject(s): Death; Shelley, Harriet Westbrook; Dead, The | ||||||||
The cold earth slept below, Above the cold sky shone; And all around with a chilling sound, From caves of ice and fields of snow The breath of night like death did flow Beneath the sinking moon. The wintry hedge was black, The green grass was not seen, The birds did rest on the bare thorn's breast, Whose roots, beside the pathway track, Had bound their folds o'er many a crack Which the frost had made between. Thine eyes glowed in the glare Of the moon's dying light; As a fen-fire's beam on a sluggish stream Gleams dimly, so the moon shone there. And it yellowed the strings of thy raven hair, That shook in the wind of night. The moon made thy lips pale, beloved -- The wind made thy bosom chill -- The night did shed on thy dear head Its frozen dew, and thou didst lie Where the bitter breath of the naked sky Might visit thee at will. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...A FRIEND KILLED IN THE WAR by ANTHONY HECHT FOR JAMES MERRILL: AN ADIEU by ANTHONY HECHT TARANTULA: OR THE DANCE OF DEATH by ANTHONY HECHT CHAMPS D?ÇÖHONNEUR by ERNEST HEMINGWAY NOTE TO REALITY by TONY HOAGLAND A DIRGE by PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY ADONAIS; AN ELEGY ON THE DEATH OF JOHN KEATS by PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY |
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