The Complete Poetical Works of Percy Bysshe Shelley (ed. Hutchinson, 1914)/'Alas! this is not what I thought life was'
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FRAGMENT: 'ALAS! THIS IS NOT WHAT I THOUGHT LIFE WAS'
[Published by Mrs. Shelley, P. W., 1839, 1st ed. This fragment is joined by Forman with that immediately preceding.]
Alas! this is not what I thought life was.
I knew that there were crimes and evil men,
Misery and hate; nor did I hope to pass
Untouched by suffering, through the rugged glen.
In mine own heart I saw as in a glass 5
The hearts of othersAnd when
I went among my kind, with triple brass
Of calm endurance my weak breast I armed.
To bear scorn, fear, and hate, a woful mass!
I knew that there were crimes and evil men,
Misery and hate; nor did I hope to pass
Untouched by suffering, through the rugged glen.
In mine own heart I saw as in a glass 5
The hearts of othersAnd when
I went among my kind, with triple brass
Of calm endurance my weak breast I armed.
To bear scorn, fear, and hate, a woful mass!