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by Percy Bysshe Shelley Original Poetry by Victor and Cazire1.-VictoriaPoems from St. Irvyne, or, the Rosicrucian "St. Irvyne; or The Rosicrucian", appeared early in 1811 (see "Bibliographical List"). Rossetti (1870) relying on a passage in Medwin's "Life of Shelley" (1 page 74), assigns 1, 4, 5, and 6 to 1808, and 2 and 4 to 1809. The… Read more
by Percy Bysshe Shelley Eyes: A FragmentPoems from St. Irvyne, or, the...Original Poetry by Victor and Cazire Published by Shelley, 1810. A Reprint, edited by Richard Garnett, C.B., LL.D., was issued by John Lane, in 1898. The punctuation of the original edition is here retained. A Person complained that whenever he began to write, he… Read more
by Percy Bysshe Shelley Fragment: OmensVerses on a Cat Published by Hogg, "Life of Shelley", 1858; dated 1800. 1. A cat in distress, Nothing more, nor less; Good folks, I must faithfully tell ye, As I am a sinner, It waits for some dinner To stuff out its own little belly. 2. You would not easily guess All the modes of distress… Read more
by Percy Bysshe Shelley TranslationsJuveniliaQueen MabAn edition (250 copies) of "Queen Mab" was printed at London in the summer of 1813 by Shelley himself, whose name, as author and printer, appears on the title-page (see "Bibliographical List"). Of this edition about seventy copies were privately distributed. Sections 1, 2, 8, and 9 were… Read more
by Percy Bysshe Shelley 7 9 8 THE FAIRY: 'The Present and the Past thou hast beheld: It was a desolate sight. Now, Spirit, learn The secrets of the Future.—Time! Unfold the brooding pinion of thy gloom, Render thou up thy half-devoured babes, And from the cradles of eternity, Where millions lie lulled to their portioned sleep By the deep… Read more
by Percy Bysshe Shelley 6 8 7 SPIRIT: 'I was an infant when my mother went To see an atheist burned. She took me there: The dark-robed priests were met around the pile; The multitude was gazing silently; And as the culprit passed with dauntless mien, Tempered disdain in his unaltering eye, Mixed with a quiet smile, shone calmly forth: The… Read more
by Percy Bysshe Shelley 5 7 6 All touch, all eye, all ear, The Spirit felt the Fairy's burning speech. O'er the thin texture of its frame, The varying periods painted changing glows, As on a summer even, When soul-enfolding music floats around, The stainless mirror of the lake Re-images the eastern gloom, Mingling convulsively its purple… Read more
by Percy Bysshe Shelley 4 6 5 'Thus do the generations of the earth Go to the grave, and issue from the womb, Surviving still the imperishable change That renovates the world; even as the leaves Which the keen frost-wind of the waning year Has scattered on the forest soil, and heaped For many seasons there—though long they choke, Loading… Read more
by Percy Bysshe Shelley 3 5 4 'How beautiful this night! the balmiest sigh, Which vernal zephyrs breathe in evening's ear, Were discord to the speaking quietude That wraps this moveless scene. Heaven's ebon vault, Studded with stars unutterably bright, Through which the moon's unclouded grandeur rolls, Seems like a canopy which love had… Read more
by Percy Bysshe Shelley 2 4 3 'Fairy!' the Spirit said, And on the Queen of Spells Fixed her aethereal eyes, 'I thank thee. Thou hast given A boon which I will not resign, and taught A lesson not to be unlearned. I know The past, and thence I will essay to glean A warning for the future, so that man May profit by his errors, and derive… Read more
by Percy Bysshe Shelley 1 3 2 If solitude hath ever led thy steps To the wild Ocean's echoing shore, And thou hast lingered there, Until the sun's broad orb Seemed resting on the burnished wave, Thou must have marked the lines Of purple gold, that motionless Hung o'er the sinking sphere: Thou must have marked the billowy clouds Edged with… Read more
by Percy Bysshe Shelley To Harriet ***** 2 1 How wonderful is Death, Death and his brother Sleep! One, pale as yonder waning moon With lips of lurid blue; The other, rosy as the morn When throned on ocean's wave It blushes o'er the world: Yet both so passing wonderful! Hath then the gloomy Power Whose reign is in the tainted sepulchres… Read more
by Percy Bysshe Shelley Notes on Queen MabNOTE ON QUEEN MAB, BY MRS. SHELLEY Shelley was eighteen when he wrote "Queen Mab"; he never published it. When it was written, he had come to the decision that he was too young to be a 'judge of controversies'; and he was desirous of acquiring 'that sobriety of spirit which is the… Read more
by Percy Bysshe Shelley 9NOTE ON QUEEN MAB, BY MRS. SHELLEYNotes on Queen Mab Shelley's Notes 1. 242, 243:- The sun's unclouded orb Rolled through the black concave. Beyond our atmosphere the sun would appear a rayless orb of fire in the midst of a black concave. The equal diffusion of its light on earth is owing to the… Read more
by Percy Bysshe Shelley 8 Notes on Queen Mab 9 'O happy Earth! reality of Heaven! To which those restless souls that ceaselessly Throng through the human universe, aspire; Thou consummation of all mortal hope! Thou glorious prize of blindly-working will! Whose rays, diffused throughout all space and time, Verge to one point and blend for… Read more
by Percy Bysshe Shelley 1To Harriet ***** Whose is the love that gleaming through the world, Wards off the poisonous arrow of its scorn? Whose is the warm and partial praise, Virtue's most sweet reward? Beneath whose looks did my reviving soul Riper in truth and virtuous daring grow? Whose eyes have I gazed fondly on, And loved… Read more
by Percy Bysshe Shelley Queen MabTranslationsOf the Translations that follow a few were published by Shelley himself, others by Mrs. Shelley in the "Posthumous Poems", 1824, or the "Poetical Works", 1839, and the remainder by Medwin (1834, 1847), Garnett (1862), Rossetti (1870), Forman (1876) and Locock (1903) from the manuscript originals.… Read more
by Percy Bysshe Shelley The CyclopsFragment of the Elegy on the D...Epigrams These four Epigrams were published-numbers 2 and 4 without title-by Mrs. Shelley, "Poetical Works", 1839, 1st edition. To Stella From the Greek of Plato Thou wert the morning star among the living, Ere thy fair light had fled;— Now, having died, thou art… Read more
by Percy Bysshe Shelley Homer's Hymn to VenusEpigramsThe Cyclops A Satyric Drama Translated from the Greek of Euripides Published by Mrs. Shelley, "Posthumous Poems", 1824; dated 1819. Amongst the Shelley manuscripts at the Bodleian there is a copy, 'practically complete,' which has been collated by Mr. C.D. Locock. See "Examination",… Read more
by Percy Bysshe Shelley Homer's Hymn to MinervaThe CyclopsHomer's Hymn to Venus Published by Garnett, "Relics of Shelley", 1862; dated 1818. Verses 1-55, with some omissions. Muse, sing the deeds of golden Aphrodite, Who wakens with her smile the lulled delight Of sweet desire, taming the eternal kings Of Heaven, and men, and all the… Read more