POEMS WRITTEN IN 1822
661
LINES: 'WHEN THE LAMP IS SHATTERED'
[Published by Mrs. Shelley, Posthumous Poems, 1824. There is a copy amongst the Trelawny MSS.]
I
When the lamp is shattered
The light in the dust lies dead—
When the cloud is scattered
The rainbow's glory is shed.
When the lute is broken, 5
Sweet tones[3] are remembered not;
When the lips have spoken,
Loved accents are soon forgot.
When the lamp is shattered
The light in the dust lies dead—
When the cloud is scattered
The rainbow's glory is shed.
When the lute is broken, 5
Sweet tones[3] are remembered not;
When the lips have spoken,
Loved accents are soon forgot.
II
As music and splendour
Survive not the lamp and the lute, 10
The heart's echoes render
No song when the spirit is mute:—
No song but sad dirges,
Like the wind through[4] a ruined cell,
Or the mournful surges 15
That ring the dead[5] seaman's knell.
As music and splendour
Survive not the lamp and the lute, 10
The heart's echoes render
No song when the spirit is mute:—
No song but sad dirges,
Like the wind through[4] a ruined cell,
Or the mournful surges 15
That ring the dead[5] seaman's knell.
III
When hearts have once mingled
Love first leaves the well-built nest;
The weak one is singled
To endure what it once possessed. 20
O Love! who bewailest
The frailty of all things here
Why choose[6] you the frailest
For your cradle, your home, and your bier?
When hearts have once mingled
Love first leaves the well-built nest;
The weak one is singled
To endure what it once possessed. 20
O Love! who bewailest
The frailty of all things here
Why choose[6] you the frailest
For your cradle, your home, and your bier?
IV [7]
Its passions will rock thee 25
As the storms rock the ravens on high;
Bright reason will mock thee,
Like the sun from a wintry sky.
From thy nest every rafter
Will rot, and thine eagle home 30
Leave thee naked to laughter,
When leaves fall and cold winds come.
Its passions will rock thee 25
As the storms rock the ravens on high;
Bright reason will mock thee,
Like the sun from a wintry sky.
From thy nest every rafter
Will rot, and thine eagle home 30
Leave thee naked to laughter,
When leaves fall and cold winds come.
TO JANE: THE INVITATION
[This and the following poem were published together in their original form as one piece under the title, The Pine Forest of the Cascine near Pisa, by Mrs. Shelley, Posthumous Poems, 1824; reprinted in the same shape, P. W., 1839, 1st ed.; republished separately in their present form, P. W., 1839, 2nd ed. There is a copy amongst the Trelawny MSS.]
Best and brightest, come away!
Fairer far than this fair Day,
Which, like thee to those in sorrow,
Comes to bid a sweet good-morrow
To the rough Year just awake 5
In its cradle on the brake.
The brightest hour of unborn Spring,
Through the winter wandering,
Found, it seems, the halcyon Morn
To hoar February born 10
Bending from Heaven, in azure mirth,
Fairer far than this fair Day,
Which, like thee to those in sorrow,
Comes to bid a sweet good-morrow
To the rough Year just awake 5
In its cradle on the brake.
The brightest hour of unborn Spring,
Through the winter wandering,
Found, it seems, the halcyon Morn
To hoar February born 10
Bending from Heaven, in azure mirth,
- ↑ 42 so Trelawny MS.; 'Twould kill me what would cure my pain 1832, edd. 1839.
- ↑ 44 A while yet, cj. A. C Bradley.
- ↑ 6 tones ed. 1824; notes Trelawny MS.
- ↑ 14 through ed. 1824; in Trelawny MS.
- ↑ 16 dead ed. 1824; lost Trelawny MS.
- ↑ 23 choose ed. 1824; chose Trelawny MS.
- ↑ 25-32 wanting Trelawny MS.
