Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE SOLITARY, by PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE SOLITARY, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: Dar'st thou amid the varied multitude
Last Line: Dull life's extremest goal.


I

DAR'ST thou amid the varied multitude
To live alone, an isolated thing?
To see the busy beings round thee spring,
And care for none; in thy calm solitude,
A flower that scarce breathes in the desert rude
To Zephyr's passing wing?

II

Not the swart Pariah in some Indian grove,
Lone, lean, and hunted by his brother's hate,
Hath drunk so deep the cup of bitter fate
As that poor wretch who cannot, cannot love.
He bears a load which nothing can remove,
A killing, withering weight.

III

He smiles -- 't is sorrow's deadliest mockery;
He speaks -- the cold words flow not from his soul;
He acts like others, drains the genial bowl, --
Yet, yet he longs -- although he fears -- to die;
He pants to reach what yet he seems to fly,
Dull life's extremest goal.





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