The Complete Poetical Works of Percy Bysshe Shelley (ed. Hutchinson, 1914)/Fragments supposed to be parts of Otho
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FRAGMENTS SUPPOSED TO BE PARTS OF OTHO
[Published by Dr. Garnett, Relics of Shelley, 1862,—where, however, only the fragment numbered ii. is assigned to Otho. Forman (1876) connects all three fragments with that projected poem.]
I
Those whom nor power, nor lying faith, nor toil,
Nor custom, queen of many slaves, makes blind,
Have ever grieved that man should be the spoil
Of his own weakness, and with earnest mind
Fed hopes of its redemption; these recur 5
Chastened by deathful victory now, and find
Foundations in this foulest age, and stir
Me whom they cheer to be their minister.
Those whom nor power, nor lying faith, nor toil,
Nor custom, queen of many slaves, makes blind,
Have ever grieved that man should be the spoil
Of his own weakness, and with earnest mind
Fed hopes of its redemption; these recur 5
Chastened by deathful victory now, and find
Foundations in this foulest age, and stir
Me whom they cheer to be their minister.
II
Dark is the realm of grief: but human things
Those may not know who cannot weep for them. 10
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Dark is the realm of grief: but human things
Those may not know who cannot weep for them. 10
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III
Once more descend
The shadows of my soul upon mankind,
For to those hearts with which they never blend,
Thoughts are but shadows which the flashing mind
From the swift clouds which track its flight of fire, 15
Casts on the gloomy world it leaves behind.
········
Once more descend
The shadows of my soul upon mankind,
For to those hearts with which they never blend,
Thoughts are but shadows which the flashing mind
From the swift clouds which track its flight of fire, 15
Casts on the gloomy world it leaves behind.
········