Lines (Shelley, 1824)

Lines by Percy Bysshe Shelley

Published by Mrs. Shelley, "Posthumous Poems", 1824.

1.
Far, far away, O ye
Halcyons of Memory,
Seek some far calmer nest
Than this abandoned breast!
No news of your false spring
To my heart's winter bring,
Once having gone, in vain
Ye come again.

2.
Vultures, who build your bowers
High in the Future's towers,
Withered hopes on hopes are spread!
Dying joys, choked by the dead,
Will serve your beaks for prey
Many a day.

This work published before January 1, 1923 is in the public domain worldwide because the author died at least 100 years ago.