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To a Skylark
"The pale purple even melts around thy flight;
Like a star of heaven in the broad daylight,
Though art unseen, but yet I hear thy shrill delight—"
'To a Skylark' is a classic poem by Percy Bysshe Shelley, first published in 1820 within his work 'Prometheus Unbound'. The verses begin by describing a skylark above him, praising his traits via a number of similes. It is one of his most famous poems, and over the years it has influenced and inspired numerous works by authors, poets and songwriters, further securing its legacy in the history of literature.
Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792–1822) was one of the major English Romantic poets, and is widely considered to be among the finest lyric poets of the English language. Among his most cherished works are pieces such as 'Ozymandias' (1817), 'Ode to the West Wind' (1820), 'To a Skylark' (1820), and 'The Masque of Anarchy' (1819). Shelley's unconventional life and uncompromising idealism, combined with his strong skeptical voice, made him a authoritative and much denigrated figure during his life. Famous for his association with his contemporaries John Keats & Lord Byron, he was also married to novelist Mary Shelley.
Like a star of heaven in the broad daylight,
Though art unseen, but yet I hear thy shrill delight—"
'To a Skylark' is a classic poem by Percy Bysshe Shelley, first published in 1820 within his work 'Prometheus Unbound'. The verses begin by describing a skylark above him, praising his traits via a number of similes. It is one of his most famous poems, and over the years it has influenced and inspired numerous works by authors, poets and songwriters, further securing its legacy in the history of literature.
Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792–1822) was one of the major English Romantic poets, and is widely considered to be among the finest lyric poets of the English language. Among his most cherished works are pieces such as 'Ozymandias' (1817), 'Ode to the West Wind' (1820), 'To a Skylark' (1820), and 'The Masque of Anarchy' (1819). Shelley's unconventional life and uncompromising idealism, combined with his strong skeptical voice, made him a authoritative and much denigrated figure during his life. Famous for his association with his contemporaries John Keats & Lord Byron, he was also married to novelist Mary Shelley.
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First published January 1, 1820
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About the author
Percy Bysshe Shelley
1,642 books1,404 followersWorks of Percy Bysshe Shelley, British romantic poet, include "To a Skylark" in 1820;
Prometheus Unbound
, the lyric drama; and "Adonais," an elegy of 1821 to John Keats.
The Cenci , work of art or literature of Percy Bysshe Shelley of 1819, depicts Beatrice Cenci, Italian noblewoman.
People widely consider Percy Bysshe Shelley among the finest majors of the English language. He is perhaps most famous for such anthology pieces as Ozymandias , Ode to the West Wind , and The Masque of Anarchy . His major long visionary Alastor , The Revolt of Islam , and the unfinished The Triumph of Life .
Unconventional life and uncompromising idealism of Percy Bysshe Shelley combined with his strong skeptical voice to make an authoritative and much denigrated figure during his life. He became the idol of the next two or three generations, the major Victorian and Pre-Raphaelite Robert Browning, Alfred Tennyson, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Algernon Charles Swinburne, as well as William Butler Yeats and in other languages, such as Jibanananda Das and Subramanya Bharathy . Karl Marx, Henry Stephens Salt, and [authorm:Bertrand Russell] also admired him. Famous for his association with his contemporaries Lord Byron, he also married Mary Shelley, novelist.
The Cenci , work of art or literature of Percy Bysshe Shelley of 1819, depicts Beatrice Cenci, Italian noblewoman.
People widely consider Percy Bysshe Shelley among the finest majors of the English language. He is perhaps most famous for such anthology pieces as Ozymandias , Ode to the West Wind , and The Masque of Anarchy . His major long visionary Alastor , The Revolt of Islam , and the unfinished The Triumph of Life .
Unconventional life and uncompromising idealism of Percy Bysshe Shelley combined with his strong skeptical voice to make an authoritative and much denigrated figure during his life. He became the idol of the next two or three generations, the major Victorian and Pre-Raphaelite Robert Browning, Alfred Tennyson, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Algernon Charles Swinburne, as well as William Butler Yeats and in other languages, such as Jibanananda Das and Subramanya Bharathy . Karl Marx, Henry Stephens Salt, and [authorm:Bertrand Russell] also admired him. Famous for his association with his contemporaries Lord Byron, he also married Mary Shelley, novelist.
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
September 12, 2024
dramatic king
December 23, 2021
To a Skylark
................................................................................................
................................................................................................
TO A SKYLARK.
by Percy Bysshe Shelley
................................................................................................
................................................................................................
One has been always, somehow, aware of this one - and now, reading it so late in life, one instantly knows why! It's pure honey-wine, the sweetness of this poem, yet nothing sticky or alkaline; it's as if the brilliant poet managed to catch all beauty and it's essence is forever captured in this poem! Could one memorize it, now, and enjoy recalling it any time one likes? Don't know, but fortunately, this book isn't so long, and one can read it on one's phone! Thank you for this one -
................................................................................................
................................................................................................
"Hail to thee, blithe spirit—
"Bird thou never wert—
"That from heaven or near it
"Pourest thy full heart In profuse strains of unpremeditated art.
"Higher still and higher
"From the earth thou springest,
"Like a cloud of fire;
"The blue deep thou wingest,
"And singing still dost soar, and soaring ever singest.
"In the golden lightning
"Of the sunken sun,
"O’er which clouds art bright’ning,
"Thou dost float and run,
"Like an unbodied joy whose race is just begun.
"The pale purple even
"Melts around thy flight;
"Like a star of heaven,
"In the broad daylight
"Thou art unseen, but yet I hear thy shrill delight—
"Keen as are the arrows
"Of that silver sphere
"Whose intense lamp narrows
"In the white dawn clear
"Until we hardly see, we feel, that it is there.
"All the earth and air
"With thy voice is loud,
"As, when night is bare,
"From one lonely cloud
"The moon rains out her beams, and heaven is overflowed.
"What thou art we know not;
"What is most like thee?
"From rainbow-clouds there flow not
"Drops so bright to see
"As from thy presence showers a rain of melody:—
"Like a poet hidden
"In the light of thought,
"Singing hymns unbidden,
"Till the world is wrought
"To sympathy with hopes and fears it heeded not;
"Like a high-born maiden
"In a palace tower,
"Soothing her love-laden
"Soul in secret hour
"With music sweet as love which overflows her bower;
"Like a glow-worm golden
"In a dell of dew,
"Scattering unbeholden
"Its aerial hue
"Among the flowers and grass which screen it from the view;
"Like a rose embowered
"In its own green leaves,
"By warm winds deflowered,
"Till the scent it gives
"Makes faint with too much heat these heavy-winged thieves;
"Thou art unseen, but yet I hear they shrill delight
"Sound of vernal showers
"On the twinkling grass,
"Rain-awakened flowers—
"All that ever was Joyous and clear and fresh—thy music doth surpass.
"Teach us, sprite or bird,
"What sweet thoughts are thine:
"I have never heard
"Praise of love or wine
"That panted forth a flood of rapture so divine.
"Chorus hymeneal,
"Or triumphal chaunt,
"Matched with thine, would be all
"But an empty vaunt—
"A thing wherein we feel there is some hidden want.
"What objects are the fountains
"Of the happy strain?
"What fields, or waves or mountains?
"What shapes of sky or plain?
"What love of thine own kind? what ignorance of pain?
"With thy clear keen joyance
"Languor cannot be:
"Shadow of annoyance
"Never came near thee:
"Thou lovest, but ne’er knew love’s sad satiety.
"Waking or asleep,
"Thou of death must deem
"Things more true and deep
"Than we mortals dream,
"Or how could thy notes flow in such a crystal stream?
"We look before and after,
"And pine for what is not;
"Our sincerest laughter
"With some pain is fraught;
"Our sweetest songs are those that tell of saddest thought.
"Yet, if we could scorn
"Hate and pride and fear,
"If we were things born
"Not to shed a tear,
"I know not how thy joy we ever should come near.
"Better than all measures
"Of delightful sound,
"Better than all treasures
"That in books are found,
"Thy skill to poet were, thou scorner of the ground!
"Teach me half the gladness
"That thy brain must know,
"Such harmonious madness
"From my lips would flow
"The world should listen then as I am listening now.
................................................................................................
................................................................................................
................................................
................................................
November 12, 2021 - November 12, 2021.
................................................
................................................
................................................................................................
................................................................................................
................................................................................................
................................................................................................
................................................................................................
................................................................................................
................................................................................................
................................................................................................
TO A SKYLARK.
by Percy Bysshe Shelley
................................................................................................
................................................................................................
One has been always, somehow, aware of this one - and now, reading it so late in life, one instantly knows why! It's pure honey-wine, the sweetness of this poem, yet nothing sticky or alkaline; it's as if the brilliant poet managed to catch all beauty and it's essence is forever captured in this poem! Could one memorize it, now, and enjoy recalling it any time one likes? Don't know, but fortunately, this book isn't so long, and one can read it on one's phone! Thank you for this one -
................................................................................................
................................................................................................
"Hail to thee, blithe spirit—
"Bird thou never wert—
"That from heaven or near it
"Pourest thy full heart In profuse strains of unpremeditated art.
"Higher still and higher
"From the earth thou springest,
"Like a cloud of fire;
"The blue deep thou wingest,
"And singing still dost soar, and soaring ever singest.
"In the golden lightning
"Of the sunken sun,
"O’er which clouds art bright’ning,
"Thou dost float and run,
"Like an unbodied joy whose race is just begun.
"The pale purple even
"Melts around thy flight;
"Like a star of heaven,
"In the broad daylight
"Thou art unseen, but yet I hear thy shrill delight—
"Keen as are the arrows
"Of that silver sphere
"Whose intense lamp narrows
"In the white dawn clear
"Until we hardly see, we feel, that it is there.
"All the earth and air
"With thy voice is loud,
"As, when night is bare,
"From one lonely cloud
"The moon rains out her beams, and heaven is overflowed.
"What thou art we know not;
"What is most like thee?
"From rainbow-clouds there flow not
"Drops so bright to see
"As from thy presence showers a rain of melody:—
"Like a poet hidden
"In the light of thought,
"Singing hymns unbidden,
"Till the world is wrought
"To sympathy with hopes and fears it heeded not;
"Like a high-born maiden
"In a palace tower,
"Soothing her love-laden
"Soul in secret hour
"With music sweet as love which overflows her bower;
"Like a glow-worm golden
"In a dell of dew,
"Scattering unbeholden
"Its aerial hue
"Among the flowers and grass which screen it from the view;
"Like a rose embowered
"In its own green leaves,
"By warm winds deflowered,
"Till the scent it gives
"Makes faint with too much heat these heavy-winged thieves;
"Thou art unseen, but yet I hear they shrill delight
"Sound of vernal showers
"On the twinkling grass,
"Rain-awakened flowers—
"All that ever was Joyous and clear and fresh—thy music doth surpass.
"Teach us, sprite or bird,
"What sweet thoughts are thine:
"I have never heard
"Praise of love or wine
"That panted forth a flood of rapture so divine.
"Chorus hymeneal,
"Or triumphal chaunt,
"Matched with thine, would be all
"But an empty vaunt—
"A thing wherein we feel there is some hidden want.
"What objects are the fountains
"Of the happy strain?
"What fields, or waves or mountains?
"What shapes of sky or plain?
"What love of thine own kind? what ignorance of pain?
"With thy clear keen joyance
"Languor cannot be:
"Shadow of annoyance
"Never came near thee:
"Thou lovest, but ne’er knew love’s sad satiety.
"Waking or asleep,
"Thou of death must deem
"Things more true and deep
"Than we mortals dream,
"Or how could thy notes flow in such a crystal stream?
"We look before and after,
"And pine for what is not;
"Our sincerest laughter
"With some pain is fraught;
"Our sweetest songs are those that tell of saddest thought.
"Yet, if we could scorn
"Hate and pride and fear,
"If we were things born
"Not to shed a tear,
"I know not how thy joy we ever should come near.
"Better than all measures
"Of delightful sound,
"Better than all treasures
"That in books are found,
"Thy skill to poet were, thou scorner of the ground!
"Teach me half the gladness
"That thy brain must know,
"Such harmonious madness
"From my lips would flow
"The world should listen then as I am listening now.
................................................................................................
................................................................................................
................................................
................................................
November 12, 2021 - November 12, 2021.
................................................
................................................
................................................................................................
................................................................................................
................................................................................................
................................................................................................
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January 2, 2015
We look before and after,
And pine for what is not:
Our sincerest laughter
With some pain is fraught;
Our sweetest songs are those
that tell of saddest thought.
And pine for what is not:
Our sincerest laughter
With some pain is fraught;
Our sweetest songs are those
that tell of saddest thought.
January 18, 2018
It's a very beautiful poem about a skylark and its beautiful birdsong. The rhyming scheme is a little clunky in places, but it's obvious that Shelley was passionate about what he was writing about here.
February 2, 2013
very epic on a seldom topic!
August 27, 2013
Shelley... Shelley...
As I laid resting one afternoon, I read them... "Mask of Anarchy" took my heart away...
As I laid resting one afternoon, I read them... "Mask of Anarchy" took my heart away...
January 7, 2024
In this poem, Shelley dwells upon the sweetened and ecstatic singing of the skylark. The music of the skylark has been idealised by Shelley. The poet wants to know what it is that stimulates the skylark to sing such melodious and ecstatic strains. He contrasts the sorrow and suffering of mankind with the unspeakable joy of the bird.
If it were possible for the poet to experience the gladness of the skylark, he would be able to sing songs as sweet and delightful as those of the bird itself.
The choral of the skylark is unmatched. Even the contented songs of marriage and the festive songs of victory are substandard to the melody of the skylark. It is not known what the basis of the skylark’s stimulation is. There is not the slightest hint of torpor or aggravation in the skylark’s ecstasy.
The skylark is insentient to human anguish as also of the unhappy satiety of love.
The skylark seems to have an exact and profounder knowledge of the enigma of bereavement than human beings. For this very reason, music flows from the skylark in such a sparkler stream.
In conclusion, in this ode, the catastrophe of human life is juxtaposed with the bird’s ecstasy. Human beings covet for the incredible. There is a touch of grief even in their merriest laughter. Their sweetest songs are songs of sadness.
But even if human life were not so unpleasant or mournful, human beings would never experience that penetrating joy which belongs to the skylark.
If the poet were to experience even half of this joy, he would feel inspired to compose poems as honeyed and tempting as the songs of the skylark.
There is something exceptional about the skylark’s trance, and this frenzy is at the origin of the skylark’s gorgeous song.
If it were possible for the poet to experience the gladness of the skylark, he would be able to sing songs as sweet and delightful as those of the bird itself.
The choral of the skylark is unmatched. Even the contented songs of marriage and the festive songs of victory are substandard to the melody of the skylark. It is not known what the basis of the skylark’s stimulation is. There is not the slightest hint of torpor or aggravation in the skylark’s ecstasy.
The skylark is insentient to human anguish as also of the unhappy satiety of love.
The skylark seems to have an exact and profounder knowledge of the enigma of bereavement than human beings. For this very reason, music flows from the skylark in such a sparkler stream.
In conclusion, in this ode, the catastrophe of human life is juxtaposed with the bird’s ecstasy. Human beings covet for the incredible. There is a touch of grief even in their merriest laughter. Their sweetest songs are songs of sadness.
But even if human life were not so unpleasant or mournful, human beings would never experience that penetrating joy which belongs to the skylark.
If the poet were to experience even half of this joy, he would feel inspired to compose poems as honeyed and tempting as the songs of the skylark.
There is something exceptional about the skylark’s trance, and this frenzy is at the origin of the skylark’s gorgeous song.
November 13, 2021
To a Skylark
by Percy Bysshe Shelley
................................................................................................
................................................................................................
TO A SKYLARK.
................................................................................................
................................................................................................
One has been always, somehow, aware of this one - and now, reading it so late in life, one instantly knows why! It's pure honey-wine, the sweetness of this poem, yet nothing sticky or alkaline; it's as if the brilliant poet managed to catch all beauty and it's essence is forever captured in this poem! Could one memorize it, now, and enjoy recalling it any time one likes? Don't know, but fortunately, this book isn't so long, and one can read it on one's phone! Thank you for this one -
................................................................................................
................................................................................................
................................................................................................
................................................................................................
................................................................................................
................................................................................................
by Percy Bysshe Shelley
................................................................................................
................................................................................................
TO A SKYLARK.
................................................................................................
................................................................................................
One has been always, somehow, aware of this one - and now, reading it so late in life, one instantly knows why! It's pure honey-wine, the sweetness of this poem, yet nothing sticky or alkaline; it's as if the brilliant poet managed to catch all beauty and it's essence is forever captured in this poem! Could one memorize it, now, and enjoy recalling it any time one likes? Don't know, but fortunately, this book isn't so long, and one can read it on one's phone! Thank you for this one -
................................................................................................
................................................................................................
................................................................................................
................................................................................................
................................................................................................
................................................................................................
March 11, 2024
FULL REVIEW ON MY WEBSITE
https://thebookcornerchronicles.com/2...
The plot here was amazing because the beginning is about the bird flying above the author and then the plot goes onto comparing humans to birds.
The writing style here was amazing and super fun to read. I think that the writing style in this poem really added a lot to the poem. And made me like the poem as much as I did.
And I gotta say that this poem is also kind of unique which I’m giving it points for.
It has also this old time vibe to it which I’m really a big fan off. And it has some very gothic vibe to it which I also love a lot.
https://thebookcornerchronicles.com/2...
The plot here was amazing because the beginning is about the bird flying above the author and then the plot goes onto comparing humans to birds.
The writing style here was amazing and super fun to read. I think that the writing style in this poem really added a lot to the poem. And made me like the poem as much as I did.
And I gotta say that this poem is also kind of unique which I’m giving it points for.
It has also this old time vibe to it which I’m really a big fan off. And it has some very gothic vibe to it which I also love a lot.
August 4, 2022
Not one of my favourite poets. Maybe it’s the very high-flown “poetic diction” which to me gives a vague and imprecise effect. One of our university lecturers claimed that Shelley’s handwriting was so atrocious that many words have been mis-transcribed, but that doesn’t explain the general misty numbing effect of so much of his verse… Favourites: “The One remains, the many change and pass” (from “Adonais”), and “Ode to the West Wind”. Also the lyric “Music, when soft voices die”, but that is not here; it can be found in in Palgrave’s Golden Treasury.
January 23, 2026
I'm so sorry for not thinking his lyricism is more impressive than what I would usually hear in a run of the mill urdu Hindi song. WHATEVER I'M BOREDDDD. I read a selected works with more than just this poem, but Hymn to Intellectual Beauty and the others fail to sway me I fear.
October 31, 2022
My favorite romantic poem..❤
November 11, 2024
percy shelley🤝being a dramatic king
October 28, 2025
I mean...Birds really do represent unbridled joy and happiness the human condition just cant reach so I get it.
October 29, 2025
It was simple and sweet, a bit repetitive, but in a way to where it's not that aggravating.
November 26, 2025
(3.75/5, will write more later on this)
March 28, 2022
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TO A SKYLARK.
................................................................................................
................................................................................................
One has been always, somehow, aware of this one - and now, reading it so late in life, one instantly knows why! It's pure honey-wine, the sweetness of this poem, yet nothing sticky or alkaline; it's as if the brilliant poet managed to catch all beauty and it's essence is forever captured in this poem! Could one memorize it, now, and enjoy recalling it any time one likes? Don't know, but fortunately, this book isn't so long, and one can read it on one's phone! Thank you for this one -
"Hail to thee, blithe spirit—
"Bird thou never wert—
"That from heaven or near it
"Pourest thy full heart In profuse strains of unpremeditated art.
"Higher still and higher
"From the earth thou springest,
"Like a cloud of fire;
"The blue deep thou wingest,
"And singing still dost soar, and soaring ever singest.
"In the golden lightning
"Of the sunken sun,
"O’er which clouds art bright’ning,
"Thou dost float and run,
"Like an unbodied joy whose race is just begun.
"The pale purple even
"Melts around thy flight;
"Like a star of heaven,
"In the broad daylight
"Thou art unseen, but yet I hear thy shrill delight—
"Keen as are the arrows
"Of that silver sphere
"Whose intense lamp narrows
"In the white dawn clear
"Until we hardly see, we feel, that it is there.
"All the earth and air
"With thy voice is loud,
"As, when night is bare,
"From one lonely cloud
"The moon rains out her beams, and heaven is overflowed.
"What thou art we know not;
"What is most like thee?
"From rainbow-clouds there flow not
"Drops so bright to see
"As from thy presence showers a rain of melody:—
"Like a poet hidden
"In the light of thought,
"Singing hymns unbidden,
"Till the world is wrought
"To sympathy with hopes and fears it heeded not;
"Like a high-born maiden
"In a palace tower,
"Soothing her love-laden
"Soul in secret hour
"With music sweet as love which overflows her bower;
"Like a glow-worm golden
"In a dell of dew,
"Scattering unbeholden
"Its aerial hue
"Among the flowers and grass which screen it from the view;
"Like a rose embowered
"In its own green leaves,
"By warm winds deflowered,
"Till the scent it gives
"Makes faint with too much heat these heavy-winged thieves;
"Thou art unseen, but yet I hear they shrill delight
"Sound of vernal showers
"On the twinkling grass,
"Rain-awakened flowers—
"All that ever was Joyous and clear and fresh—thy music doth surpass.
"Teach us, sprite or bird,
"What sweet thoughts are thine:
"I have never heard
"Praise of love or wine
"That panted forth a flood of rapture so divine.
"Chorus hymeneal,
"Or triumphal chaunt,
"Matched with thine, would be all
"But an empty vaunt—
"A thing wherein we feel there is some hidden want.
"What objects are the fountains
"Of the happy strain?
"What fields, or waves or mountains?
"What shapes of sky or plain?
"What love of thine own kind? what ignorance of pain?
"With thy clear keen joyance
"Languor cannot be:
"Shadow of annoyance
"Never came near thee:
"Thou lovest, but ne’er knew love’s sad satiety.
"Waking or asleep,
"Thou of death must deem
"Things more true and deep
"Than we mortals dream,
"Or how could thy notes flow in such a crystal stream?
"We look before and after,
"And pine for what is not;
"Our sincerest laughter
"With some pain is fraught;
"Our sweetest songs are those that tell of saddest thought.
"Yet, if we could scorn
"Hate and pride and fear,
"If we were things born
"Not to shed a tear,
"I know not how thy joy we ever should come near.
"Better than all measures
"Of delightful sound,
"Better than all treasures
"That in books are found,
"Thy skill to poet were, thou scorner of the ground!
"Teach me half the gladness
"That thy brain must know,
"Such harmonious madness
"From my lips would flow
"The world should listen then as I am listening now.
................................................................................................
................................................................................................
................................................................................................
................................................................................................
................................................................................................
................................................................................................
................................................................................................
TO A SKYLARK.
................................................................................................
................................................................................................
One has been always, somehow, aware of this one - and now, reading it so late in life, one instantly knows why! It's pure honey-wine, the sweetness of this poem, yet nothing sticky or alkaline; it's as if the brilliant poet managed to catch all beauty and it's essence is forever captured in this poem! Could one memorize it, now, and enjoy recalling it any time one likes? Don't know, but fortunately, this book isn't so long, and one can read it on one's phone! Thank you for this one -
"Hail to thee, blithe spirit—
"Bird thou never wert—
"That from heaven or near it
"Pourest thy full heart In profuse strains of unpremeditated art.
"Higher still and higher
"From the earth thou springest,
"Like a cloud of fire;
"The blue deep thou wingest,
"And singing still dost soar, and soaring ever singest.
"In the golden lightning
"Of the sunken sun,
"O’er which clouds art bright’ning,
"Thou dost float and run,
"Like an unbodied joy whose race is just begun.
"The pale purple even
"Melts around thy flight;
"Like a star of heaven,
"In the broad daylight
"Thou art unseen, but yet I hear thy shrill delight—
"Keen as are the arrows
"Of that silver sphere
"Whose intense lamp narrows
"In the white dawn clear
"Until we hardly see, we feel, that it is there.
"All the earth and air
"With thy voice is loud,
"As, when night is bare,
"From one lonely cloud
"The moon rains out her beams, and heaven is overflowed.
"What thou art we know not;
"What is most like thee?
"From rainbow-clouds there flow not
"Drops so bright to see
"As from thy presence showers a rain of melody:—
"Like a poet hidden
"In the light of thought,
"Singing hymns unbidden,
"Till the world is wrought
"To sympathy with hopes and fears it heeded not;
"Like a high-born maiden
"In a palace tower,
"Soothing her love-laden
"Soul in secret hour
"With music sweet as love which overflows her bower;
"Like a glow-worm golden
"In a dell of dew,
"Scattering unbeholden
"Its aerial hue
"Among the flowers and grass which screen it from the view;
"Like a rose embowered
"In its own green leaves,
"By warm winds deflowered,
"Till the scent it gives
"Makes faint with too much heat these heavy-winged thieves;
"Thou art unseen, but yet I hear they shrill delight
"Sound of vernal showers
"On the twinkling grass,
"Rain-awakened flowers—
"All that ever was Joyous and clear and fresh—thy music doth surpass.
"Teach us, sprite or bird,
"What sweet thoughts are thine:
"I have never heard
"Praise of love or wine
"That panted forth a flood of rapture so divine.
"Chorus hymeneal,
"Or triumphal chaunt,
"Matched with thine, would be all
"But an empty vaunt—
"A thing wherein we feel there is some hidden want.
"What objects are the fountains
"Of the happy strain?
"What fields, or waves or mountains?
"What shapes of sky or plain?
"What love of thine own kind? what ignorance of pain?
"With thy clear keen joyance
"Languor cannot be:
"Shadow of annoyance
"Never came near thee:
"Thou lovest, but ne’er knew love’s sad satiety.
"Waking or asleep,
"Thou of death must deem
"Things more true and deep
"Than we mortals dream,
"Or how could thy notes flow in such a crystal stream?
"We look before and after,
"And pine for what is not;
"Our sincerest laughter
"With some pain is fraught;
"Our sweetest songs are those that tell of saddest thought.
"Yet, if we could scorn
"Hate and pride and fear,
"If we were things born
"Not to shed a tear,
"I know not how thy joy we ever should come near.
"Better than all measures
"Of delightful sound,
"Better than all treasures
"That in books are found,
"Thy skill to poet were, thou scorner of the ground!
"Teach me half the gladness
"That thy brain must know,
"Such harmonious madness
"From my lips would flow
"The world should listen then as I am listening now.
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October 20, 2016
Read as part of The Norton Anthology of Poetry
Our sincerest laughter
With some pain is fraught;
Our sweetest songs are those that tell of saddest thought.
Our sincerest laughter
With some pain is fraught;
Our sweetest songs are those that tell of saddest thought.
October 23, 2024
“The world should listen then- as I am listening now.”
August 26, 2015
Tan delicado, tan mágico... <3
April 13, 2016
به پاس آرزوهایی که پریدند و پژمرده نشدند، لبخند بزنیم
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