The Complete Poetical Works of Percy Bysshe Shelley (ed. Hutchinson, 1914)/Invocation to Misery

by Percy Bysshe Shelley

INVOCATION TO MISERY

[Published by Medwin, The Athenæum, Sept. 8, 1832. Reprinted (as Misery, a Fragment) by Mrs. Shelley, Poetical Works, 1839, 1st ed. Our text is that of 1839. A pencil copy of this poem is amongst the Shelley MSS. at the Bodleian Library. See Mr. C. D. Locock's Examination, &c, 1903, p. 38. The readings of this copy are indicated by the letter B. in the footnotes.]

 

i.

Come, be happy!—sit near me,

Shadow-vested Misery:
Coy, unwilling, silent bride,
Mourning in thy robe of pride,
Desolation—deified! 5

ii.

Come, be happy!—sit near^[1] me:

Sad as I may seem to thee,
I am happier far^[2] than thou,
Lady, whose imperial brow
Is endiademed with woe. 10

iii.

Misery! we have known each other,

Like a sister and a brother
Living in the same lone home,
Many years—we must live some
Hours or^[3] ages yet to come. 15

iv.

'Tis an evil lot, and yet

Let us make the best^[4] of it;
If love can live when pleasure dies,
We two will^[5] love, till in our eyes
This heart's Hell seem Paradise. 20

v.

Come, be happy!—lie thee down

On the fresh grass newly mown,
Where the Grasshopper doth sing
Merrily—one joyous thing
In a world of sorrowing! 25

vi.

There our tent shall be the willow,

And mine arm shall be thy^[6] pillow;
Sounds and odours, sorrowful
Because they once were sweet, shall lull
Us to slumber, deep and dull. 30

vii.

Ha! thy frozen pulses flutter

With a love thou darest not utter.
Thou art murmuring—thou art weeping—^[7]
Is thine icy bosom leaping
While my burning hearthes sleeping?^[8] 35

viii.

Kiss me;— oh! thy lips are cold:

Round my neck thine arms enfold—
They are soft, but chill and dead;
And thy tears upon my head
Burn like points of frozen^[9] lead. 40

ix.

Hasten to the bridal bed—

Underneath the grave 'tis spread:
In darkness may our love be hid,
Oblivion be^[10] our coverlid—
We may rest, and none forbid. 45

x.

Clasp me till our hearts be grown

Like two shadows^[11] into one;
Till this dreadful transport may
Like a vapour fade away,
In the sleep that lasts alway. 50

xi.

We may dream, in that long sleep,

That we are not those who weep;
E'en as Pleasure dreams of thee,
Life-deserting Misery,
Thou mayst dream of her with me. 55

xii.

Let us laugh, and make our mirth,

At the shadows of the earth,
As dogs bay the moonlight clouds.
Which^[12], like spectres wrapped in shrouds,
Pass o'er night in multitudes. 60

xiii.

All the wide world, beside us,

Show^[13] like multitudinous
Puppets passing^[14] from a scene;
What but mockery can they mean,
Where I am—where thou hast been?^[15] 65

1. Invocation to Misery—i near B., 1839; by 1832.
2. happier far] merrier yet B.
3. Hours or] Years and 1832.
4. best] most 1832.
5. We two will] We will 1832.
6. mine arm shall be thy B., 1839; thine arm shall be my 1832.
7. represented by asterisks, 1832.
8. Thou art murmuring, thou art weeping, Whilst my burning bosom's leaping 1832; Was thine icy bosom leaping While my burning heart was sleeping B.
9. frozen 1832, 1839, B.; molten cj. Forman.
10. be] is B.
11. shadows] lovers 1832, B.
12. which B., 1839; that 1832.
13. Show] Are 1832, B.
14. Puppets passing] Shadows shifting 1832; Shadows passing B.
15. So B.; What but mockery may they mean? Where am I?—Where thou hast been 1832.