Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THE REVOLT OF ISLAM: DEDICATION AND CANTO 1, by PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: So now my summer-task is ended, mary Last Line: Memories which found a tongue, as thus he silence broke. | ||||||||
Dedication There is no danger to a man that knows What life and death is: there's not any law Exceeds his knowledge; neither is it lawful That he should stoop to any other law. Chapman. To Mary ---- I SO now my summer-task is ended, Mary, And I return to thee, mine own heart's home; As to his Queen some victor knight of Faery, Earning bright spoils for her enchanted dome; Nor thou disdain, that ere my fame become A star among the stars of mortal night, If it indeed may cleave its natal gloom, Its doubtful promise thus I would unite With thy beloved name, thou Child of love and light. II The toil which stole from thee so many an hour, Is ended, -- and the fruit is at thy feet! No longer where the woods to frame a bower With interlaced branches mix and meet, Or where, with sound like many voices sweet, Water-falls leap among wild islands green, Which framed for my lone boat a lone retreat Of moss-grown trees and weeds, shall I be seen; But beside thee, where still my heart has ever been. III Thoughts of great deeds were mine, dear Friend, when first The clouds which wrap this world from youth did pass. I do remember well the hour which burst My spirit's sleep. A fresh May-dawn it was, When I walked forth upon the glittering grass, And wept, I knew not why; until there rose From the near school-room voices that, alas! Were but one echo from a world of woes -- The harsh and grating strife of tyrants and of foes. IV And then I clasped my hands and looked around, But none was near to mock my streaming eyes, Which poured their warm drops on the sunny ground -- So without shame I spake: -- 'I will be wise, And just, and free, and mild, if in me lies Such power, for I grow weary to behold The selfish and the strong still tyrannize Without reproach or check.' I then controlled My tears, my heart grew calm, and I was meek and bold. V And from that hour did I with earnest thought Heap knowledge from forbidden mines of lore; Yet nothing that my tyrants knew or taught I cared to learn, but from that secret store Wrought linked armor for my soul, before It might walk forth to war among mankind; Thus power and hope were strengthened more and more Within me, till there came upon my mind A sense of loneliness, a thirst with which I pined. VI Alas, that love should be a blight and snare To those who seek all sympathies in one! Such once I sought in vain; then black despair, The shadow of a starless night, was thrown Over the world in which I moved alone: -- Yet never found I one not false to me, Hard hearts, and cold, like weights of icy stone Which crushed and withered mine, that could not be Aught but a lifeless clog, until revived by thee. VII Thou Friend, whose presence on my wintry heart Fell, like bright Spring upon some herbless plain; How beautiful and calm and free thou wert In thy young wisdom, when the mortal chain Of Custom thou didst burst and rend in twain, And walked as free as light the clouds among, Which many an envious slave then breathed in vain From his dim dungeon, and my spirit sprung To meet thee from the woes which had begirt it long! VIII No more alone through the world's wilderness, Although I trod the paths of high intent, I journeyed now; no more companionless, Where solitude is like despair, I went. There is the wisdom of a stern content When Poverty can blight the just and good, When Infamy dares mock the innocent, And cherished friends turn with the multitude To trample: this was ours, and we unshaken stood! IX Now has descended a serener hour, And with inconstant fortune, friends return; Though suffering leaves the knowledge and the power Which says, -- Let scorn be not repaid with scorn. And from thy side two gentle babes are born To fill our home with smiles, and thus are we Most fortunate beneath life's beaming morn; And these delights, and thou, have been to me The parents of the Song I consecrate to thee. X Is it that now my inexperienced fingers But strike the prelude of a loftier strain? Or must the lyre on which my spirit lingers Soon pause in silence, ne'er to sound again, Though it might shake the Anarch Custom's reign, And charm the minds of men to Truth's own sway, Holier than was Amphion's? I would fain Reply in hope -- but I am worn away, And Death and Love are yet contending for their prey. XI And what art thou? I know, but dare not speak: Time may interpret to his silent years. Yet in the paleness of thy thoughtful cheek, And in the light thine ample forehead wears, And in thy sweetest smiles, and in thy tears, And in thy gentle speech, a prophecy Is whispered to subdue my fondest fears; And, through thine eyes, even in thy soul I see A lamp of vestal fire burning internally. XII They say that thou wert lovely from thy birth, Of glorious parents thou aspiring Child! I wonder not -- for One then left this earth Whose life was like a setting planet mild, Which clothed thee in the radiance undefiled Of its departing glory; still her fame Shines on thee, through the tempests dark and wild Which shake these latter days; and thou canst claim The shelter, from thy Sire, of an immortal name. XIII One voice came forth from many a mighty spirit, Which was the echo of three thousand years; And the tumultuous world stood mute to hear it, As some lone man who in a desert hears The music of his home: -- unwonted fears Fell on the pale oppressors of our race, And Faith, and Custom, and low-thoughted cares, Like thunder-stricken dragons, for a space Left the torn human heart, their food and dwelling-place. XIV Truth's deathless voice pauses among mankind! If there must be no response to my cry -- If men must rise and stamp with fury blind On his pure name who loves them, -- thou and I, Sweet Friend! can look from our tranquillity Like lamps into the world's tempestuous night, -- Two tranquil stars, while clouds are passing by Which wrap them from the foundering seaman's sight, That burn from year to year with unextinguished light. Canto First I WHEN the last hope of trampled France had failed Like a brief dream of unremaining glory, From visions of despair I rose, and scaled The peak of an aerial promontory, Whose caverned base with the vexed surge was hoary; And saw the golden dawn break forth, and waken Each cloud and every wave: -- but transitory The calm; for sudden, the firm earth was shaken, As if by the last wreck its frame were overtaken. II So as I stood, one blast of muttering thunder Burst in far peals along the waveless deep, When, gathering fast, around, above and under, Long trains of tremulous mist began to creep, Until their complicating lines did steep The orient sun in shadow: -- not a sound Was heard; one horrible repose did keep The forests and the floods, and all around Darkness more dread than night was poured upon the ground. III Hark! 't is the rushing of a wind that sweeps Earth and the ocean. See! the lightnings yawn, Deluging Heaven with fire, and the lashed deeps Glitter and boil beneath! it rages on, One mighty stream, whirlwind and waves upthrown, Lightning, and hail, and darkness eddying by! There is a pause -- the sea-birds, that were gone Into their caves to shriek, come forth to spy What calm has fall'n on earth, what light is in the sky. IV For, where the irresistible storm had cloven That fearful darkness, the blue sky was seen, Fretted with many a fair cloud interwoven Most delicately, and the ocean green, Beneath that opening spot of blue serene, Quivered like burning emerald; calm was spread On all below; but far on high, between Earth and the upper air, the vast clouds fled, Countless and swift as leaves on autumn's tempest shed. V For ever as the war became more fierce Between the whirlwinds and the rack on high, That spot grew more serene; blue light did pierce The woof of those white clouds, which seemed to lie Far, deep and motionless; while through the sky The pallid semicircle of the moon Passed on, in slow and moving majesty; Its upper horn arrayed in mists, which soon, But slowly, fled, like dew beneath the beams of noon. VI I could not choose but gaze; a fascination Dwelt in that moon, and sky, and clouds, which drew My fancy thither, and in expectation Of what I knew not, I remained. The hue Of the white moon, amid that heaven so blue Suddenly stained with shadow did appear; A speck, a cloud, a shape, approaching grew, Like a great ship in the sun's sinking sphere Beheld afar at sea, and swift it came anear. VII Even like a bark, which from a chasm of mountains, Dark, vast and overhanging, on a river Which there collects the strength of all its fountains, Comes forth, whilst with the speed its frame doth quiver, Sails, oars and stream, tending to one endeavor; So, from that chasm of light a winged Form On all the winds of heaven approaching ever Floated, dilating as it came; the storm Pursued it with fierce blasts, and lightnings swift and warm. VIII A course precipitous, of dizzy speed, Suspending thought and breath; a monstrous sight! For in the air do I behold indeed An Eagle and a Serpent wreathed in fight: -- And now, relaxing its impetuous flight, Before the aerial rock on which I stood, The Eagle, hovering, wheeled to left and right, And hung with lingering wings over the flood, And startled with its yells the wide air's solitude. IX A shaft of light upon its wings descended, And every golden feather gleamed therein -- Feather and scale inextricably blended. The Serpent's mailed and many-colored skin Shone through the plumes its coils were twined within By many a swollen and knotted fold, and high And far, the neck receding lithe and thin, Sustained a crested head, which warily Shifted and glanced before the Eagle's steadfast eye. X Around, around, in ceaseless circles wheeling With clang of wings and scream, the Eagle sailed Incessantly -- sometimes on high concealing Its lessening orbs, sometimes as if it failed, Drooped through the air; and still it shrieked and wailed, And casting back its eager head, with beak And talon unremittingly assailed The wreathed Serpent, who did ever seek Upon his enemy's heart a mortal wound to wreak. XI What life, what power, was kindled and arose Within the sphere of that appalling fray! For, from the encounter of those wondrous foes, A vapor like the sea's suspended spray Hung gathered; in the void air, far away, Floated the shattered plumes; bright scales did leap, Where'er the Eagle's talons made their way, Like sparks into the darkness; -- as they sweep, Blood stains the snowy foam of the tumultuous deep. XII Swift chances in that combat -- many a check, And many a change, a dark and wild turmoil! Sometimes the Snake around his enemy's neck Locked in stiff rings his adamantine coil, Until the Eagle, faint with pain and toil, Remitted his strong flight, and near the sea Languidly fluttered, hopeless so to foil His adversary, who then reared on high His red and burning crest, radiant with victory. XIII Then on the white edge of the bursting surge, Where they had sunk together, would the Snake Relax his suffocating grasp, and scourge The wind with his wild writhings; for, to break That chain of torment, the vast bird would shake The strength of his unconquerable wings As in despair, and with his sinewy neck Dissolve in sudden shock those linked rings -- Then soar, as swift as smoke from a volcano springs. XIV Wile baffled wile, and strength encountered strength, Thus long, but unprevailing. The event Of that portentous fight appeared at length. Until the lamp of day was almost spent It had endured, when lifeless, stark and rent, Hung high that mighty Serpent, and at last Fell to the sea, while o'er the continent With clang of wings and scream the Eagle passed, Heavily borne away on the exhausted blast. XV And with it fled the tempest, so that ocean And earth and sky shone through the atmosphere; Only, 't was strange to see the red commotion Of waves like mountains o'er the sinking sphere Of sunset sweep, and their fierce roar to hear Amid the calm; down the steep path I wound To the sea-shore -- the evening was most clear And beautiful, and there the sea I found Calm as a cradled child in dreamless slumber bound. XVI There was a Woman, beautiful as morning, Sitting beneath the rocks upon the sand Of the waste sea -- fair as one flower adorning An icy wilderness; each delicate hand Lay crossed upon her bosom, and the band Of her dark hair had fall'n, and so she sate Looking upon the waves; on the bare strand Upon the sea-mark a small boat did wait, Fair as herself, like Love by Hope left desolate. XVII It seemed that this fair Shape had looked upon That unimaginable fight, and now That her sweet eyes were weary of the sun, As brightly it illustrated her woe; For in the tears, which silently to flow Paused not, its lustre hung: she, watching aye The foam-wreaths which the faint tide wove below Upon the spangled sands, groaned heavily, And after every groan looked up over the sea. XVIII And when she saw the wounded Serpent make His path between the waves, her lips grew pale, Parted and quivered; the tears ceased to break From her immovable eyes; no voice of wail Escaped her; but she rose, and on the gale Loosening her star-bright robe and shadowy hair, Poured forth her voice; the caverns of the vale That opened to the ocean, caught it there, And filled with silver sounds the overflowing air. XIX She spake in language whose strange melody Might not belong to earth. I heard alone What made its music more melodious be, The pity and the love of every tone; But to the Snake those accents sweet were known His native tongue and hers; nor did he beat The hoar spray idly then, but winding on Through the green shadows of the waves that meet Near to the shore, did pause beside her snowy feet. XX Then on the sands the Woman sate again, And wept and clasped her hands, and, all between, Renewed the unintelligible strain Of her melodious voice and eloquent mien; And she unveiled her bosom, and the green And glancing shadows of the sea did play O'er its marmoreal depth -- one moment seen, For ere the next, the Serpent did obey Her voice, and, coiled in rest, in her embrace it lay. XXI Then she arose, and smiled on me with eyes Serene yet sorrowing, like that planet fair, While yet the daylight lingereth in the skies, Which cleaves with arrowy beams the dark-red air, And said: 'To grieve is wise, but the despair Was weak and vain which led thee here from sleep. This shalt thou know, and more, if thou dost dare With me and with this Serpent, o'er the deep, A voyage divine and strange, companionship to keep.' XXII Her voice was like the wildest, saddest tone, Yet sweet, of some loved voice heard long ago. I wept. Shall this fair woman all alone Over the sea with that fierce Serpent go? His head is on her heart, and who can know How soon he may devour his feeble prey? -- Such were my thoughts, when the tide 'gan to flow; And that strange boat like the moon's shade did sway Amid reflected stars that in the waters lay. XXIII A boat of rare device, which had no sail But its own curved prow of thin moonstone, Wrought like a web of texture fine and frail, To catch those gentlest winds which are not known To breathe, but by the steady speed alone With which it cleaves the sparkling sea; and now We are embarked -- the mountains hang and frown Over the starry deep that gleams below A vast and dim expanse, as o'er the waves we go. XXIV And as we sailed, a strange and awful tale That Woman told, like such mysterious dream As makes the slumberer's cheek with wonder pale! 'T was midnight, and around, a shoreless stream, Wide ocean rolled, when that majestic theme Shrined in her heart found utterance, and she bent Her looks on mine; those eyes a kindling beam Of love divine into my spirit sent, And, ere her lips could move, made the air eloquent. XXV 'Speak not to me, but hear! much shalt thou learn, Much must remain unthought, and more untold, In the dark Future's ever-flowing urn. Know then that from the depth of ages old Two Powers o'er mortal things dominion hold, Ruling the world with a divided lot, Immortal, all-pervading, manifold, Twin Genii, equal Gods -- when life and thought Sprang forth, they burst the womb of inessential Nought. XXVI 'The earliest dweller of the world alone Stood on the verge of chaos. Lo! afar O'er the wide wild abyss two meteors shone, Sprung from the depth of its tempestuous jar -- A blood-red Comet and the Morning Star Mingling their beams in combat. As he stood All thoughts within his mind waged mutual war In dreadful sympathy -- when to the flood That fair Star fell, he turned and shed his brother's blood. XXVII 'Thus Evil triumphed, and the Spirit of Evil, One Power of many shapes which none may know, One Shape of many names; the Fiend did revel In victory, reigning o'er a world of woe, For the new race of man went to and fro, Famished and homeless, loathed and loathing, wild, And hating good -- for his immortal foe, He changed from starry shape, beauteous and mild, To a dire Snake, with man and beast unreconciled. XXVIII 'The darkness lingering o'er the dawn of things Was Evil's breath and life; this made him strong To soar aloft with overshadowing wings; And the great Spirit of Good did creep among The nations of mankind, and every tongue Cursed and blasphemed him as he passed; for none Knew good from evil, though their names were hung In mockery o'er the fane where many a groan, As King, and Lord, and God, the conquering Fiend did own. XXIX 'The Fiend, whose name was Legion: Death, Decay, Earthquake and Blight, and Want, and Madness pale, Winged and wan diseases, an array Numerous as leaves that strew the autumnal gale; Poison, a snake in flowers, beneath the veil Of food and mirth, hiding his mortal head; And, without whom all these might nought avail, Fear, Hatred, Faith and Tyranny, who spread Those subtle nets which snare the living and the dead. XXX 'His spirit is their power, and they his slaves In air, and light, and thought, and language dwell; And keep their state from palaces to graves, In all resorts of men -- invisible, But when, in ebon mirror, Nightmare fell, To tyrant or impostor bids them rise, Black winged demon-forms -- whom, from the hell, His reign and dwelling beneath nether skies, He loosens to their dark and blasting ministries. XXXI 'In the world's youth his empire was as firm As its foundations. Soon the Spirit of Good, Though in the likeness of a loathsome worm, Sprang from the billows of the formless flood, Which shrank and fled; and with that Fiend of blood Renewed the doubtful war. Thrones then first shook, And earth's immense and trampled multitude In hope on their own powers began to look, And Fear, the demon pale, his sanguine shrine forsook. XXXII 'Then Greece arose, and to its bards and sages, In dream, the golden-pinioned Genii came, Even where they slept amid the night of ages, Steeping their hearts in the divinest flame Which thy breath kindled, Power of holiest name! And oft in cycles since, when darkness gave New weapons to thy foe, their sunlike fame Upon the combat shone -- a light to save, Like Paradise spread forth beyond the shadowy grave. XXXIII 'Such is this conflict -- when mankind doth strive With its oppressors in a strife of blood, Or when free thoughts, like lightnings, are alive, And in each bosom of the multitude Justice and truth with custom's hydra brood Wage silent war; when priests and kings dissemble In smiles or frowns their fierce disquietude, When round pure hearts a host of hopes assemble, The Snake and Eagle meet -- the world's foundations tremble! XXXIV 'Thou hast beheld that fight -- when to thy home Thou dost return, steep not its hearth in tears; Though thou mayst hear that earth is now become The tyrant's garbage, which to his compeers, The vile reward of their dishonored years, He will dividing give. The victor Fiend Omnipotent of yore, now quails, and fears His triumph dearly won, which soon will lend An impulse swift and sure to his approaching end. XXXV 'List, stranger, list! mine is an human form Like that thou wearest -- touch me -- shrink not now! My hand thou feel'st is not a ghost's, but warm With human blood. 'T was many years ago, Since first my thirsting soul aspired to know The secrets of this wondrous world, when deep My heart was pierced with sympathy for woe Which could not be mine own, and thought did keep In dream unnatural watch beside an infant's sleep. XXXVI 'Woe could not be mine own, since far from men I dwelt, a free and happy orphan child, By the sea-shore, in a deep mountain glen; And near the waves and through the forests wild I roamed, to storm and darkness reconciled; For I was calm while tempest shook the sky, But when the breathless heavens in beauty smiled, I wept sweet tears, yet too tumultuously For peace, and clasped my hands aloft in ecstasy. XXXVII 'These were forebodings of my fate. Before A woman's heart beat in my virgin breast, It had been nurtured in divinest lore; A dying poet gave me books, and blessed With wild but holy talk the sweet unrest In which I watched him as he died away; A youth with hoary hair, a fleeting guest Of our lone mountains; and this lore did sway My spirit like a storm, contending there alway. XXXVIII 'Thus the dark tale which history doth unfold I knew, but not, methinks, as others know, For they weep not; and Wisdom had unrolled The clouds which hide the gulf of mortal woe; To few can she that warning vision show; For I loved all things with intense devotion, So that when Hope's deep source in fullest flow, Like earthquake did uplift the stagnant ocean Of human thoughts, mine shook beneath the wide emotion. XXXIX 'When first the living blood through all these veins Kindled a thought in sense, great France sprang forth, And seized, as if to break, the ponderous chains Which bind in woe the nations of the earth. I saw, and started from my cottage hearth; And to the clouds and waves in tameless gladness Shrieked, till they caught immeasurable mirth, And laughed in light and music: soon sweet madness Was poured upon my heart, a soft and thrilling sadness. XL 'Deep slumber fell on me: -- my dreams were fire, Soft and delightful thoughts did rest and hover Like shadows o'er my brain; and strange desire, The tempest of a passion, raging over My tranquil soul, its depths with light did cover, Which passed; and calm, and darkness, sweeter far, Came -- then I loved; but not a human lover! For when I rose from sleep, the Morning Star Shone through the woodbine wreaths which round my casement were. XLI ''T was like an eye which seemed to smile on me. I watched, till by the sun made pale it sank Under the billows of the heaving sea; But from its beams deep love my spirit drank, And to my brain the boundless world now shrank Into one thought -- one image -- yes, forever! Even like the dayspring, poured on vapors dank, The beams of that one Star did shoot and quiver Through my benighted mind -- and were extinguished never. XLII 'The day passed thus. At night, methought, in dream A shape of speechless beauty did appear; It stood like light on a careering stream Of golden clouds which shook the atmosphere; A winged youth, his radiant brow did wear The Morning Star; a wild dissolving bliss Over my frame he breathed, approaching near, And bent his eyes of kindling tenderness Near mine, and on my lips impressed a lingering kiss, XLIII 'And said: "A Spirit loves thee, mortal maiden; How wilt thou prove thy worth?" Then joy and sleep Together fled; my soul was deeply laden, And to the shore I went to muse and weep; But as I moved, over my heart did creep A joy less soft, but more profound and strong Than my sweet dream; and it forbade to keep The path of the sea-shore; that Spirit's tongue Seemed whispering in my heart, and bore my steps along. XLIV 'How, to that vast and peopled city led, Which was a field of holy warfare then, I walked among the dying and the dead, And shared in fearless deeds with evil men, Calm as an angel in the dragon's den; How I braved death for liberty and truth, And spurned at peace, and power, and fame; and when Those hopes had lost the glory of their youth, How sadly I returned -- might move the hearer's ruth. XLV 'Warm tears throng fast! the tale may not be said. Know then that, when this grief had been subdued, I was not left, like others, cold and dead; The Spirit whom I loved in solitude Sustained his child; the tempest-shaken wood, The waves, the fountains, and the hush of night -- These were his voice, and well I understood His smile divine, when the calm sea was bright With silent stars, and Heaven was breathless with delight. XLVI 'In lonely glens, amid the roar of rivers, When the dim nights were moonless, have I known Joys which no tongue can tell; my pale lip quivers When thought revisits them: -- know thou alone, That, after many wondrous years were flown, I was awakened by a shriek of woe; And over me a mystic robe was thrown By viewless hands, and a bright Star did glow Before my steps -- the Snake then met his mortal foe.' XLVII 'Thou fearest not then the Serpent on thy heart?' 'Fear it!' she said, with brief and passionate cry, And spake no more. That silence made me start -- I looked, and we were sailing pleasantly, Swift as a cloud between the sea and sky, Beneath the rising moon seen far away, Mountains of ice, like sapphire, piled on high, Hemming the horizon round, in silence lay On the still waters -- these we did approach alway. XLVIII And swift and swifter grew the vessel's motion, So that a dizzy trance fell on my brain, -- Wild music woke me; we had passed the ocean Which girds the pole, Nature's remotest reign; And we glode fast o'er a pellucid plain Of waters, azure with the noontide day. Ethereal mountains shone around; a Fane Stood in the midst, girt by green isles which lay On the blue sunny deep, resplendent far away. XLIX It was a Temple, such as mortal hand Has never built, nor ecstasy, nor dream Reared in the cities of enchanted land; 'T was likest Heaven, ere yet day's purple stream Ebbs o'er the western forest, while the gleam Of the unrisen moon among the clouds Is gathering -- when with many a golden beam The thronging constellations rush in crowds, Paving with fire the sky and the marmoreal floods. L Like what may be conceived of this vast dome, When from the depths which thought can seldom pierce Genius beholds it rise, his native home, Girt by the deserts of the Universe; Yet, nor in painting's light, or mightier verse, Or sculpture's marble language can invest That shape to mortal sense -- such glooms immerse That incommunicable sight, and rest Upon the laboring brain and over-burdened breast. LI Winding among the lawny islands fair, Whose blosmy forests starred the shadowy deep, The wingless boat paused where an ivory stair Its fretwork in the crystal sea did steep, Encircling that vast Fane's aerial heap. We disembarked, and through a portal wide We passed, whose roof of moonstone carved did keep A glimmering o'er the forms on every side, Sculptures like life and thought, immovable, deep-eyed. LII We came to a vast hall, whose glorious roof Was diamond which had drunk the lightning's sheen In darkness and now poured it through the woof Of spell-inwoven clouds hung there to screen Its blinding splendor -- through such veil was seen That work of subtlest power, divine and rare; Orb above orb, with starry shapes between, And horned moons, and meteors strange and fair, On night-black columns poised -- one hollow hemisphere! LIII Ten thousand columns in that quivering light Distinct, between whose shafts wound far away The long and labyrinthine aisles, more bright With their own radiance than the Heaven of Day; And on the jasper walls around there lay Paintings, the poesy of mightiest thought, Which did the Spirit's history display; A tale of passionate change, divinely taught, Which, in their winged dance, unconscious Genii wrought. LIV Beneath there sate on many a sapphire throne The Great who had departed from mankind, A mighty Senate; -- some, whose white hair shone Like mountain snow, mild, beautiful and blind; Some, female forms, whose gestures beamed with mind; And ardent youths, and children bright and fair; And some had lyres whose strings were intertwined With pale and clinging flames, which ever there Waked faint yet thrilling sounds that pierced the crystal air. LV One seat was vacant in the midst, a throne, Reared on a pyramid like sculptured flame, Distinct with circling steps which rested on Their own deep fire. Soon as the Woman came Into that hall, she shrieked the Spirit's name And fell; and vanished slowly from the sight. Darkness arose from her dissolving frame, -- Which, gathering, filled that dome of woven light, Blotting its sphered stars with supernatural night. LVI Then first two glittering lights were seen to glide In circles on the amethystine floor, Small serpent eyes trailing from side to side, Like meteors on a river's grassy shore; They round each other rolled, dilating more And more -- then rose, commingling into one, One clear and mighty planet hanging o'er A cloud of deepest shadow which was thrown Athwart the glowing steps and the crystalline throne. LVII The cloud which rested on that cone of flame Was cloven; beneath the planet sate a Form, Fairer than tongue can speak or thought may frame, The radiance of whose limbs rose-like and warm Flowed forth, and did with softest light inform The shadowy dome, the sculptures and the state Of those assembled shapes -- with clinging charm Sinking upon their hearts and mine. He sate Majestic yet most mild, calm yet compassionate. LVIII Wonder and joy a passing faintness threw Over my brow -- a hand supported me, Whose touch was magic strength; an eye of blue Looked into mine, like moonlight, soothingly; And a voice said, 'Thou must a listener be This day; two mighty Spirits now return, Like birds of calm, from the world's raging sea; They pour fresh light from Hope's immortal urn; A tale of human power -- despair not -- list and learn! LIX I looked, and lo! one stood forth eloquently. His eyes were dark and deep, and the clear brow Which shadowed them was like the morning sky, The cloudless Heaven of Spring, when in their flow Through the bright air the soft winds as they blow Wake the green world; his gestures did obey The oracular mind that made his features glow, And where his curved lips half open lay, Passion's divinest stream had made impetuous way. LX Beneath the darkness of his outspread hair He stood thus beautiful; but there was One Who sate beside him like his shadow there, And held his hand -- far lovelier; she was known To be thus fair by the few lines alone Which through her floating locks and gathered cloke, Glances of soul-dissolving glory, shone; None else beheld her eyes -- in him they woke Memories which found a tongue, as thus he silence broke. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...ADONAIS; AN ELEGY ON THE DEATH OF JOHN KEATS by PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY ALASTOR; OR, THE SPIRIT OF SOLITUDE by PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY AUTUMN: A DIRGE by PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY ENGLAND IN 1819 by PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY EPIPSYCHIDION by PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY FEELINGS OF A REPUBLICAN ON THE FALL OF BONAPARTE by PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY HYMN OF PAN by PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY HYMN TO INTELLECTUAL BEAUTY by PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY LINES WRITTEN ON HEARING THE NEWS OF THE DEATH OF NAPOLEON by PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY LOVE'S PHILOSOPHY by PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY MONT BLANC; LINES WRITTEN IN THE VALE OF CHAMOUNI by PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY |
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