Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, SONG, by PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

SONG, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: I loved -- alas! Our life is love
Last Line: Breathes o'er the breezy streamlet's edge.
Variant Title(s): Invocation;the Spirit Of Delight


I

I loved -- alas! our life is love;
But when we cease to breathe and move
I do suppose love ceases too.
I thought, but not as now I do,
Keen thoughts and bright of linked lore,
Of all that men had thought before,
And all that nature shows, and more.

II

And still I love and still I think,
But strangely, for my heart can drink
The dregs of such despair, and live,
And love;
And if I think, my thoughts come fast,
I mix the present with the past,
And each seems uglier than the last.

III

Sometimes I see before me flee
A silver spirit's form, like thee,
O Leonora, and I sit still watching it,
Till by the grated casement's ledge
It fades, with such a sigh, as sedge
Breathes o'er the breezy streamlet's edge.





Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!


Other Poems of Interest...
Home: PoetryExplorer.net