SCT PERCY SYSSHE SHELLEY RCY BYSSHE SHELLEY seta salsa ‘squall swamped the boat. nb Shelley character hasbeen th sj of heated tee nn by Shaley’s contemporaries a ‘hat masked tel ay tet Ne ‘dy py cmp, wre hit phere ee on Shee athe ime af hs deat se i ean th ory pes during his lifetime, Sheen lc pial ds the Chana tnd gl tthe end, and atta wat star of the tw Ulifferences, Wordsworth recognized early on the pone pee rtd cay on he eet ah ee te "a alndsvoth sid “sone of the betas of wale a POU: “Shl a. 1814-15 MAsToR | 767 ame sd and 3 wy pig irehet hed td teen ae unknown. On July 8, 1822, Shelley and Edit bat the Do uo tne Gases ced ' several days later the bodies were washed ash, a Protestant Cemeter ‘To Wordsworth! Poet of Nature, thou hast wept to know That thi srt which never may return: Gtaldhoot snd yout, Iendship and love's fi glow, Have fled like sweet dreams, leaving thee to mourn, + These common woes I feel, One loss is mine ‘Which thou too feel'st, yet Talone deplore. ‘Thou wert as a lone star, whose light did shine On some Frail bark? in winter's midnight roar: small ship Thow hast like to a rock-built refuge stood 1 Above the blind and battling multitude: In honoured poverty thy voice did weave Songs consecrate to truth and liberty, Deserting these, thou leavest me to grieve, Thus having been, that thou shouldst cease to be. 14-15 1816 arya ng ons that he justified to hime becuse vee lisastrous consequences for thoxe eas re oe ibute some of those actions tow sel reith centr, Nal leh of the Bish Labour Pry Andra a or, The Spirit of Solitude shelley wrote Alastor in the fall and winter of 1815 and published it in March 1816. Acccrding to his friend Love Peacock, the poet was “ata loss for a title, and I proposed that which ‘Alastor, or the Spirit of Solitude. The Greek word Alastor is an evil +, Emention the true meaning of the word because many have supposed to be the name of the hero” (Memoirs of Shelley). Peaccek’s definition of an ‘as “an evil genius” has compounded the problems in interpreting this work: ‘evil does not seem to ft the attitude expressed within the poem toward the it's solitary quest, the poem seems to clash with statements in Shelley's sand the first and second paragraphs of the preface seem inconsistent with other. These problems, however, may be largely resolved if we recognize that, in “early achievement (he was only twenty-three when he wrote Alastor), Shelley yed his characteristic procedure of working with multiple perspectives. Both ‘and poem explore alternative and conflicting possibilties in what Shelley “doubtful knowledge'—matters that are humanly essential but in. which no Mutability ‘We are as clouds that veil the mid: veil the midnight mo slow testlessly they speed, and gleam, nnd ui iscaking the darkness radiantly!—yet sou.” Night closes round, and they are lost or ever Or like forgotten Iyres° whose disson, Give various lant strings, wind hary ae us response to each varying blow i is humanly possible, To whose ral frame no second motion belent er ail in tha esis ne ear Me wenn tale aaa Ine mood oF modulation like the ln Biel i Gen, Whe condiaval ard Ramseonied allagasek fuck 1h ast rea RCP Sick SsintPo rusk Osi We beeen Unie he st—A dream has power to poison sleep ‘We rise.—One wan eet, t st, for whom objects in the Wee conceive or eae a elites he day, Iota ecsts tosathce comtaes hive tie scare orate Other Embrace fond woe, orenst out eareeeeey, vl all hs intellectual inainatve, an onsuous neds. The second pers. aay: fk tlaiprfabe, by condsest, paseta jcigmban. on fl xlalondryprvtigohia in It is the samet—For, be joy or 6 ofthe ylucs of actual men that the equlrementsof human and vosial ‘The path ofits deperine ots Baie From tite past vem. be Vacnaly has eon “mteope (pur Mani yesterday naj ace eee: iectoates pert en eseonines aauashatbesereednmrte rate ought may cadre bat Roos morons Bheriby or nuates caprioed ihn We poe besereenit fo union 1816 ele eek poses 1, Sally's grieved comment om the port of Le Aature and of socal radial iter his views section of sonnets such an-Londom, 1802" hen ad became conrerte ‘Steps shears Poor of 1807 fRd become concerti essPERCY aYSSHE SHELLEY if on the bass of the many echoes of Wordsworth in the opening invocation, identity the narrator ofthe story asa Wordswrthian poct or wham the rete ‘ord is sufcen o satsy both the demands of hin imagination and hi nec community. This narrative poet, team be asumed, undertakes to tell compare ately, but fom his own perspective, the history of a nameless visionary whe hy surrendered everything in the ques fora goal beyond possiblity, |n this carly poem, Shelley establishes a form, a conceptual frame, and the imag ‘ery for the Romantic quest that he reiterated in his later poems and th a 458 paradigm for many other poems, from Byron's Manfed and Keatss Ende to the quest poems of Shelley’ ater admirer William Butler Yeats, Av tha rt time, in presenting @ protagonist who journeys farther and farther east, fa Greece onvard to Jerusalem and then Indi, Mastor so prefigures story nes Victorian adventure novels would construct for their empire ulin herors, also served Alastor; or, The S} Preface The poem entitled “Ataston,” may be considered as allegorical of one of the ‘most interesting situations of the human mind. It represents @ youth of uncorrupted feelings and adventurous genius led forth by an imagination inflamed and purified through familiarity with all that is excellent and majes- tic, to the contemplation of the universe. He drinks deep of the fountains of knowledge, and i still insatiate, The magnificence and beauty of the external world sinks profoundly into the frame of his conceptions, and affords to their modifications a variety not to be exhausted. So long as it is possible for his desires to point towards objects thus infinite and unmeasured, he is joyous, and tranquil, and self- possessed. But the period arrives when these objects cease to suffice, His mind is at length suddenly awakened and thirsts for intercourse with an intelligence similar to itself. He images to himself the Being whom he loves. Conversant with speculations of the sublimest and ‘most perfect natures, the vision in which he embodies his own imaginations Unites all of wonderful, or wise, or beautiful, which the poet, the philoso: pher, or the lover could depicture. The intellectual faculties, the imagination the functions of sense, have their respective requisitions on the sympathy of corresponding powers in other human beings. The Poet is represented as Uniting these requisitions, and attaching them toa single image.! He seeks in for a prototype of his conception. Blasted by his disappointment, he descends to an untimely grave. The picture is not barren of instruction to actual men. The Poet's self centred seclusion was avenged by the furies of an irresistible passion purst™ ing him to speedy ruin. But that Power which strikes the luminaries of the world with sudden darkness and extinction, by awakening them to too exqui site a perception of its influences, dooms to'a slow and poisonous decay those ‘meaner spirits that dare to abjure its dominion. Theit destiny is more abject and inglorious as their delinquency is more contemptible and pernicious. They who, deluded by no generous error, instigated by no sacred thirst of doubtful knowledge, duped by no illustrious superstition, loving nothing on it of Solitude 1, For Shall cxpansion of mnt fovea an alized projection alhat est inthe sel cichis ayn Lane p79 ALASTOR | 769 veh net pe yt i tie es ate agian ra fase none feel with them thelr common nature They sre morally ded. eh ect ele tae ‘sympathy, the pure and tenderhearted perish through the Intensity ee ney ey er . iddenly makes itself felt. All else, selfish, blind, and torpi Re , aie ee multitudes who constitute, together with their own, the lasting a ree er Me eae “unfruitful lives, and prepare for their old age a miserable grave. “The good die first, ‘And those whose hearts are dry as summer dust, Burn to the socket!" ber 14, 1815 Alastor; or, The Spirit of Solitude amabom, et amare smabam, gwureham quid amare Merete Conf” 8 Agus Earth, ocean, air, beloved brotherhood! tout ‘great Mother* a eat se ‘soul Pe ee oa a er ae 5 If dewy morn, and odorous noon, and even’ With sunset and its gorgeous minister ‘And solemn midnight’s tingling silentness; If autumn’s hollow sigh in the sere yore Her first sweet ss, have been dear to me; Theat ios ft evening J ofthis uafatborsble world Favour ny solr song For hae loved av_Whscevey and the ony Ihave watched Eee ta atom moter bh loved ene sh a ty" Wordsworth also used iid oh cgcan na nl e"Oein tines tt tons of loctay Mest thet et of hi dee, wih ge wh peter pu ourey oi Me BeBe discord she she itt a770 1 PERCY BYSSHE sHELLEY ‘Thy shadow, and the dark o + and the darkness of thy steps, And my ear verges on thee OF thy deop mysteries. Ihave made my bed x [nchamnels and on coins, where black death fgg eer of the rphis won fom the ing to till these obstinate questioninges Of thee and thine, by forcing some lone sho, Thy messenger, to render up the tale vo Qhwhat we ae. In lone and silent hours © fihten night makes a weird sound ofits own stillness, ‘ike an inspired and desperate alchymist ‘| taking his very life on some dark hope, Have I mixed awful talk and asking looks With my most innocent love, until strange te % Unking with those breathless Kisses, mle uch magic as compels the charmed nigh To render up thy changes tad ioe ce se ou hast unveil’d thy inmost sanctua a Enaugh from incommunicable dream, © And twilight phantasms, and deep noo Hos shone within me, that erence YoU ind moveless,*as a long-forgotten lyre Suspended in the sltary dame ol (OF Some mysterious and deserted fane? “+ [wait thy breath, Great Parent, that my stral ci. May modulate with murmurs ofthe aig ‘And motion of the forests and the say nd voice of living beings, and woven hymns Of might and dye and the dep hoarse %. There was.a Poet whose No human hands with But the charmed ed Built o'er his mouldering bones a pyran, OF mouldering leaves in the waste vie es. * {yfvely south “no mourning maiden decked th weeping flowers, or votive eyprese? wre The lone couch of his everlasting sleep, — +i entle, and brave, and generous’ ne! lary? Bed ere da at rd dd © He lived, he died, he sung, in solitude, 8 Strangers have pt to hear his passionate nots, ind virgins, as unknown he past, have pined And wasted for fond love of Ke wile ee The fire of those soft orbs has ceased to burn, ** And Silence, too enamouted of that voice,” Locks its mute music in her rugged cell.” se untimely tomb pious reverence reared, of autumnal winds Arsene. Whote dwelling... the ‘una ocean and he lng st Reh plan nthe mind a te, te oe Phe ak rine “Nae muastor 1 771 By solemn vision, and bright silver dream, His infancy was nurtured. Every sight ‘And sound from the vast earth and ambient air, ze Sent to his heart its choicest impulses. The fountains of divine philosophy led not his thirsting lips, and all of great Or good, or lovely, which the sacred past In truth or fable consecrates, he Felt as And knew, When early youth had past, he let © His cold fireside and alienated home To seck strange truths in undiscovered lands. Many a wide waste and tangled wilderness Has lured his fearless steps; and he has bought With his sweet voice and eyes, from savage men, rest and food. Nature's most secret steps He like her shadow has pursued, where’er The red voleano overcanopies Its fields of snow and pinnacles of ice ‘5 With burning smoke, or where bitumen lakes* On black bare pointed islets ever beat With sluggish surge, or where the secret caves Rugged and dark, winding among the springs Of fite and poison, inaccessible se To.avarice or pride, their starry domes Of diamond and of gold expand above Numberless and immeasurable halls, Frequent with crystal column, and clear shrines crowied OF pearl, and thrones radiant with chrysolite.* ss Nor had that scene of ampler majesty ‘Than gems oF gold, the varying roof of hea ‘And the green earth lost in his heart its cla ‘To love and wonder; he would linger long In lonesome vales, making the wild his home, tm Until the doves and squirrels would partake From his innocuous hand his bloodless food,> Lured by the gentle meaning of his looks, And the wild antelope, that starts whene'er ‘The dry leaf rustles in the brake, suspend thicket tos Hee timid steps to gaze upon a form More graceful than her own. His wandering step Obedient to high thoughts, has visited The awful? ruins of the days of old: ve-inapring Athens, and Tyre, and Balbec;* and the waste 110 Where stood Jerusalem, the fallen towers OF Babylon, the eternal pyramids, Memphis and Thebes,” and whatsoeer of strange ‘Sculptured on alabaster obelisk, hates of pte, lowing from a volcan, ests ee commercial city om the Site era Funan ea lea hike tained eesti eave taro Sn Ne ee ha772 RCY BYSSHE SHELLEY Or jasper tomb, or mutilated sphynx, us Dark A:thiopia in her desert hille dieters Eieaseere coo are eu recreate acevo es eeeoen see Shes oper hare scebitree tae ‘tanya hvac eine een Conceals. Among the ruined temples there, Stupendous columns, and wild a OF more than man, where marble daemons* watch The Zodiac's? brazen mystery, and dead men Hang their mute thoughts om the mute walls around, He Hogered, poring ony memorials 7 ‘world’s youth, through the long burning da Gazed on thos spechless shapes nk oe on Filled the mysterious halls with floating shades Suspended he that task, but ever gazed And gazed, till meaning on his vacant mind Flashed like strong inspiration, and he saw ‘The thrilling secrets of the birth of time. Meanwhile an Arab maiden brought his fi Her daily portion, from her fathers And spread her matting for his couch, and stole From duties and repose to tend his steps Enamoured, yet not daring for deep mre To speak her love-—and watched his nightly sleep Sleepless herself, to gaze upon his ips : Parted in slumber, whence the regular breath Of innocent dreams arose: then, When red morn Made paler the pale monn, to her cold heme Wildered,* and wan, and panting, she returned, bewildered ‘The Poet wandering on, through Arabie Aue Pea dhe wil Carman asta? ind ofr the aérial mountains which pour down Indus and Oxust from thet iyrsese In joy and exultation held his way; Tillin the vale of Cashmire, far within Iss loneliest dell, where odorous plants entwine Beneath the hollow rocks a natural bower, Beside a sparkling rivulet he stretched His languid limbs. Avision om his sleep were came, a dream of hopes that never: Had flashed his cheek, He dreamed a elled maid Sate near him, talking in low solemn tones, Her voice was like the voice of his own soul Heard in the calm of thought; its music long, Like woven sounds of streams and breezes, held {4a y ucts innrbed inthe stone 2 Kisetotbee Rs at Dendera, Egypt the the cig Josey ALASTOR, His inmost sense suspended in its web ‘Of many-coloured woo!” and shifting hues. Knowledge and truth and virtue were her theme, ‘And lofty hopes of divine liberty, potent stoeancietea nes poor Herself a poet. Soon the solemn mood ‘Of her pure mind kindled through all her frame ‘A permeating fire: wild numbers then She raised, voice stifled in tremulous sobs ‘Subdued by its own pathos: her fair hands Were are ne, seeping om some ang bry Strange symphony, and in their branching veins She logven tod tld on neta aes ‘The beating of her heart was heard to fill ‘The pauses of her music, and her breath Tumultuously accorded with those fits Of intermitted song, Sudden she rose, ‘As if her heart impatiently endured Ite bursting burthen: at the sound he turned, ‘And saw by the warm light of their own life Te glowing limbs beneath the sinuous vel Of woven wind, her outspread arms now bare, Her dark locks floating in the breath of night, Her beamy bending ees, her parted lips Outstretched, and pale, and quivering eagerly. Ding beset erik tod sickened wh emcees Of love. tle reared his shuddering limbs and quelled His gasping breath, and spread his arms to meet Hervanting bosom... «she drew beck a whi ‘Then, yildng tothe irresistible Joy, With frantic gesture and short breathless ery Folded his frame in her dissolving arms. Now blackness veiled his dizzy eyes, and night Thwolved" and swallowed up the visto; slep, Like a dark flood suspended in its course, Rolled back ts impulbe on his vacant brain. Roused by the shock he started from his trance— ‘The cold white light of morning, the blue moon Low in the west, the clear and garish hills, ‘The distinct valley and the vacant wood! Spread round him where he stood. Whither have fled The hues of heaven that eanopied his bower Of yesternight? The sounds that soothed his sleep, ‘The mystery and the majesty of Earth, The joy the exultation? His wan eyes Gaze on the empty scene as vacantly ‘Ar oceanfs moon oaks onthe moom in heaven. ‘of sweet human love has sent Avision to the sleep of him who spurned Her choicest gifts. He eagerly pursues Beyond the realms of dream that fleeting shai He overleaps the bounds. Alas! alas! Por AM a Tt ny rede REY vq verapped ap phantom§, le deth the oly acento this den of finde (6. The cle and serpent locked in moral con: bats a eeuzent inn in Seley Tabound 81 93°59) 7" A'moantin strong othe rte part Prometheus MSRCVUOVSSHE SHELLEY ‘Thus treacherously? Lost, lost, for ever lost; In the wide pathless desatt of dim That beautiful shape! Does the dark gate of death Conduct to thy mysterious paradise, © Sleep?* Does the bright arch of rainbow clouds, And pendent? mountains seen in the ealm lake, Lead only to a black and watery depth, While deaths blue vault, with loathliest vapours hung, Where every shade which the foul grave exhales Hides its dead eye from the detested day, Conduct, O Sleep, to thy delightful realms? This doubt with sudden tide flowed on his heart, The insatiate hope which it awakened, st His brain even like despair, 4 While day-light held ‘The sky, the Poet kept mute conference ‘With his still soul. At night the passion came, Like the fierce fiend of a distempered dream, ‘And shook hisn from his rest, and led him forth Into the darkness. —As an eagle grasped In folds ofthe green serpent, feels her breast Burn with the poison, and precipitates? Through night and day, tempest, and calm, and cloud, Frantic with dizzying anguish, her blind flight Ofer the wide aéry wilderness: thus driven By the bright shadow of that lovely dream, Peneath the cold glare ofthe desolate night, Through tangled swamps and deep precipitous dell, Startling with careless step the moon light eva He fled. Red morning dawned upon his flight, Shedding the mockery of its vital hues Upon his cheek of death. He wandered on Till vast Aornos seen from Petrals steep Hung o'er the low horizon like a cloud, Through Balk,* and where the desolated tombs OF Parthian kings? scatter to every wind Their wasting dust, wildly he wandered on, Day after day, a weary waste of hours, Bearing within his life the brooding care ‘That ever fed om its decaying flame. And now his limbs were lean; his scattered hair Sered by the autumn of strange suffering Sung dirges in the wind; his listless hand Hung like dead bone within its withered skin; Life, and the lustre that consumed it, shone As in a furnace burning secretly From his dark eyes alone. The cottagers, facet Arabia Arnos i pert he rok ter ec Mtg, overhanging ALASTOR 1 775 10 ministered with human charity Tishman wants Beeld with wondering awe Ret tne vite tla incountering on some dizzy precipice With lighting eyes and eager breath, und eet Disturbing not the drifted snow, had pauses In its career: the infant would conceal His troubled visage in his mother’s robe In terror at the glare of those wild eyes, To remember their strange light in many a dream Of aftertimes: but youthful maidens, taught By nature, would interpret half the woe Hen sat wasted him, would call him with false® rames Brotior and (lend would press his paid bond At parting, and watch, dim through tears, the path Of his departure from their father’s door. At length upon the lone Chorasmian shore! He paused, a wide and melancholy waste OF putrid marshes. A strong impulse urged His step othe sea-hore/ A swan was there, Beside a sluggish stream among the reeds, Ierose as he approached, and with trong wings Sealing the upward shy; het its bright course High over the immeasurable main. His eyes pursued its ight —"Thow hasta home, Beautiful bid: thou voyagest vo thine home, Where thy sweet mate will twine her downy nec With thine, and weleome thy return with eyes Bright in the lustre of their own fond joy: ax And what am I that I should linger here, With voice far sweeter than thy dying notes, Spirit more vast than thine, frame more attuned ‘To beauty, wasting these surpassing powers In the dea a, to the Blind earth, and heaven 20 That echoes not my thoughts?” A'gloomy smile Of desperate hope convulsed his curling lips For sleep, he knew, kept most relentlessly Its precious charge? and silent death exposed, Falthles perhaps as sleep, a shadowy utes 26s With doubtful smile mocking its own strange charms. hastens Startled by his own thoughts he looked around, ‘There wasn alfcnd? net hm ots gh Or ound of ae but in hs on de ind little shallop? floating near the shore oe Caught the impatient wandering of his gaze. tad been long abandoned, for its sides sal open boat ricci. 3 hpphnany ve e ‘an esternal agent uring, thio west the sleeper’ dream.776 1 PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY ape de with many aed with the undulations oft A restless impulse urged him ot a {und mes lene Dea onthe des ce orwell he knew that might) Shadons ‘The slimy caverns of the realaes nee ‘The day was fair and sunm Drank its inspiring radianee, and 210. Swept strongly from the thors eee Following bis eager soul, the sea and sky wanderer: Leaped in the boat, he spread his eloak aloft ‘On the bare mast, and took his ws Like a torn cloud before the seamed a ‘As one that in a silver vision float by aa esplendenk clouds, so rapidly une wee ve dark and ruffled waters fled *uusts and precipitating fore, Through the white edges ofthe chafedcen, Marke rose Higher and higher sil serpents struggling in a vulture’ gras Calm and rejoicing inthe fearful war ie fave ruining” on wave, and blast on blast Descending, and black flood on whirlpool driven With dark obliterating course, 0 Ac thi gent ere mi — jointed to conduet him to the li irae Holding the steady helm. Evening eame on, ‘The beams of sunset bung their rainbow hus High ‘mid the shifting domes of sheeted spray ‘That canopied his path o'er the waste deep: Twilight, ascending slowly from the east ntwind in duskiet wreaths her braided locks er the fair front and radiant eyes of da ow Night followed, clad with stars. On every sid More horeibly the multitudinous streams. OF ocean's mountainous waste to mutual war Rushed in dark tumult shundering as to mock so Garg and sanded ky. The ite boat Suill fled before the storm; still Dovn the step caiaract of tiny her 4 the ntti ing cared spa Siemens, Sh ct ‘Tn Caen tha nthe sein tor Pe Rata et it Union, fren ean rac Ballo ohn tral Blom chaws—“ rift, and its frail joints, th on the drear ocean's waste; blackening the waves. ing boat.—A whirlwind swept it on, sd beneath the tempest’s scourge seat ad Wet lsat the Gana a ec ton ALASTOR Now pausing on the edge of the riven® wave; form asunder Now leaving far behind the bursting mass That fell, convulsing ocean. Safely fled— Asif tha rll and wasted human form, been an elemental god a tet dni “The moon arose: and lo! the etherial cliffs* Of Caucasus, whose icy summits shone ‘Among the stars ike sunlight, and around Whose cavern’d base the whirlpools and the waves Bursting and eddying irresistibly Rage and resound for ever—Who shall save? “The boat fled on,—the boiling torrent drove, ‘The erags closed round with black and jagged arms, ‘The shattered mountain overhung the sea, ‘And faster still, beyond all human speed, Suspended on the sweep of the smooth wave, ‘The litle boat was driven. A cavern there Yawned, and amid its slant and winding depths Ingulphed the rushing sea. The boat fled o With unrelaxing speed.—"Vision and Love! ‘The Poet cried aloud, “I have beheld ‘The path of thy departure, Sleep and death Shall not divide us long!” “The boat pursued ‘The winding of the cavern. Day-light shone Atlength upon that gloomy rivers flow: ‘Now, where the fiercest war among the waves Is calm, on the unfathomable stream ‘The boat moved slowly, Where the mountain, riven, Exposed those black depths to the azure sky. Ee yet the flood’s enormous volume fell Even to the base of Caucasus, with sound That shook the everlasting rocks, the mass Filled with one whirlpool all that ample chasm; Stair above stair the eddying waters rose, Circling immeasurably fast, and laved? With alternating dash the knarled roots ‘Of mighty trees, that stretched their giant arms In darkness over it. the midst was left, Reflecting, yet distorting every cloud, ‘Spoof treacherous and tremendous calm ‘Seized by the sway of the ascending stream, With dizzy swiftness, round, and round, and round, Ridge after ridge the straining boat arose, so Tillon the verge of the extremest curve, Where, through an opening of the rocky bank, ‘The waters overflow, and a smooth spot Of glassy quiet mid those battling tides racing - swushed cial possi jjurey's the C 5. A pdf one ofthe natural elements se line beaut high inthe aeEE Fn SSHE SHELLEY Is left, the boat paused shudderin i Down the abyss? Shall the reverting antes nk Of that resistless gulph embosom ne [Now shall fall-—A wandering stream of wind, reathed from the west, has caught the expanded sai And, lol with gentle motian, beeen acto a «00 Of mossy slope, and on a placid stream Beneath a woven grove it sails, and, hark! The ghastly torrent mingles its far roar, With the breeze gi ‘i Where the embowering trees recede, and lene + Allttle space of green expanse, the cove {peland by mecting bunks, whose yellow flowers ‘or ever gave on their own drooping ey Reflected in the crystal calm. The are Of the boat’s motion marred! theit pensive task, sw Which nought but vagrant bird, or wanton seind (Or falling speargrass, or their own decay Had e'er disturbed before, The Poet longed To deck with their bright hues his withered hai But on his heart its solitude returned, ba + And he forbore.” Not the strong impulse hid In those flushed checks, bent eyes, and shadowy fr Had yet performed its ministry: it hung ia Upon his life, as lightning in a cloud Gleams, hovering ere it vanish, ere the floods Of night close over it The noonday sun Dew shane upon the fret ane vast mass ‘mingling shade, whose brown magnificen A.narsow vale embosome, There hug eae Scooped in the dark base of their aéry rocks’ + Mocking? its moans, respond and roar for ever. ‘The meeting boughs and implicated? leaves Move twilight ofr the Poets path, as led By love, or dream, or god, or mightier Death, HE, fouaht in Natures deneest haunt, some bank, v0 Her cradle, and his sepulehre, More dag . Adda the shee scamuate Thee Expanding its immense and knotty arms,” Embraces the light beech, The pyramids. OF the tall cedar overarching, frame ‘6+ Most solemn domes within, and far below, Like clouds suspended in an emerald sky “Tie tsh and the acacia Noating hang remulous and pale, Like restless serpents, clot Inrainbow and in fic, the parasites, the ‘#0 Starred with ten thousand blossoms, flow around intertwined 1.,The “allow lowers oethangng 1 ‘flection line 40-3), irene iat with» possi asus eed fran nents Other een and the strong impale line 415) des him on. Alc hy, eeng u's le ie ho icing the Sees its own treacherous ALASTOR “The grey trunks, and, as gamesome infants’ eyes, With gentle meanings, and most innocent wiles, Fold their beams round the hearts of those that love, ‘These twine their tendrils with the wedded boughs Uniting their close union; the woven leaves Make net-work of the dark blue light of day, ‘And the night's noontide clearness, mutable ‘As shapes in the weird clouds, Soft mossy lawns Beneath these canopies extend their swells, Fragrant with perfumed herbs, and eyed with blooms Minute yet beautiful. One darkest glen ; Sends from its woods of musk-rose, twined with jasmine, ‘soul-dissolving odour, to invite Tesume more lvely mystery. Through the del, Silence and Twilight here, win-sster, keep ‘Their noonday watch, and sail among the shades, Like vaporous shapes half seen; beyond, a well, Dark, gleaming, and of most translucent wave, Images all the woven boughs above, ‘And each depending leaf, and every speck ‘Of azure sky, darting between their chasms; Nor aught else in the liquid mirror laves Its portraiture, but some inconstant star Between one foliaged lattice twinkling fair, r, painted bird, sleeping beneath the moon, Or gorgcous insect floating motionless, Unconscious of the day, ere yet his wings Have spread their glories to the gaze of noon. Hither the Poet came, His eyes beheld yo Their own wan light through the reflected lines Of his thin hair, dstinet in the dark depth fat sil foun a the barman heart, jing in dreams over the gloomy grave, Rest own mess there. He heard ‘es The motion of the leaves, the grass that sprung Startled and glanced and trembled even to feel ‘An unaccustomed presence, and the sound Of the sweet rook that fom the sect springs OF that dark fountain rose. A Spirit seme ‘40 “Tostand beside him —clathed fn no bright robes OF shadowy silver or enshrining light, Borrowed from aught the vstle world affords Of grace, oF majesty, or mystery:— But, undatating woods, and silent well, ‘4s And leaping rivulet, and evening gloom Now deepening the dark shades, for speech assuming Held commune with him, as if he and it ‘Were all that was —only.. . when his regard Was raised by intense pensiveness, ... two eyes, sm Vossany eve, hung i toe loon of rouge, ‘And seemed with their serene and szure smiles ‘To beckon him. 1 719 bb»Obedient to the fi ‘That shone within he soul, he wee pursuing The windings of the dell.—The rivulet + Wanton and wild, through many a green ravine Beneath the forest flowed. Sometimes it fell ‘Among the moss with hollow harmony. Dark and profound. Now on the polished stones sydanced like childhood laughing ast went ‘0 Then, through the plain in tranquil wanderings crept, Reflecting every heth and drooping bud “TP ‘That overhung its quietness.—-"O stream! Whose source is inaccessibly profound, Whither do thy mysterious wonton Thou imagest my life. Thy darksome stillness, Thy dazzling waves; thy loud and hollow gulphs, Thy searchless® fountain, and invisible course Have each their type in me: and the wide sky, ‘And measureless ocean may declare as soon What oozy cavern or what wandering cloud Contains thy waters, as the universe Tell where these living thoughts reside, when stretched Upon thy flowers my bloodless limbs shall waste the passing wind!” tinlscoverabe Beside the grassy shore 3% Of the small stream he went; he did impress On the green moss his tremulous step, that caught Strong shuddering from his burning limbs. As one Roused by some joyous madness from the couch Of fever, he did move: yet, not like him, v0 Forgetful of the grave, where, when the flame OF his frail exultation shall be spent, He must descend, With rapid steps he went Beneath the shade of trees, beside the flow OF the wild babbling rivulet; and now 5 The forest's solemn canopies were changed For the uniform and lightsome® evening sky. Grey rocks did peep from the spare moss, and stemmed ‘The struggling brook: tall spires of windlestrae” ‘Threw their thin shadows down the rugged slope, v0 And nought but knarled roots! of antient pines Branchless and blasted, clenched with grasping roots ‘The unwilling soil. A gradual change was here, Yet ghastly. For, as fast years flow away, The smooth brow gathers, and the hair grows thin And white, and where irradiate® dewy eyes Had shone, gleam stony orbs:—so from his steps Bright flowers departed, and the beautiful shase OF the green groves, with all their odorous winds And musical motions. Calm, he still pursued v0 The stream, that with a larger volume now Rolled through the labyrinthine dell; and there 4% Windies (Somisy da) al dred alk of gras 1. Probably om over fa Sernmuray nada amined ALASTOR | 71 Freted a path throughts descending curves With its wintry speed. On every side now Rocks, which, im nimaginable form, Lifted their black and barren pinnae! In the light of evening, and its precipice® Obseuring the ravine, disclosed above, Mid toppling stones, black gulphs and yawning coves Whose windings gave ten thousand various tongue To the loud steam. Lo! where the pas expands Its stony jaws, the abrupt mountain breaks, And seems, with its accumulated ergs fo overhang the world: for wide expan ovo the wap as and descending moon ied seas, blue mountains, mighty streams, Bore mi Of leaden-coloured even, and fiery hills Mingling their flames with twilight, on the verge ‘Of the remote horizon. The near® scene, In naked and severe simplicity, Made contrast with the universe. A pi Rockeooted stretched athwart the vacney Its swinging boughs, to each inconstant blast jelding one only response, at each pause Tomes fniarcoetoa) sith the Bowl under and the hiss of homeless streams Foaming and hurrying oer its rugged path, Fell into that immeasirale void” Seattering its waters to the passing winds. nearby poeuees Se ‘Was there. Even on the edge of that vast mountain, Upheld by knotty roots and fallen rocks, pe ae i dark earth, and the bending vault of ae Even in the lap of horror. Ivy clasped Foie cer itaay mr At bera dart month nd sen ace ‘The children of the autumnal Basie hee fA In wanton sport, ae Ae whose decay, sas Red, yellow, or etherially pale, ‘The wilds to love tranquillity. One step, of its solitude:—one voice eae ner erent 2, Headlong fall ofthe stream, line S40) chp and vicissitudes:a R, Which hither came, floating among the winds, And led the loveliest among human forme To make their wild haunts the depository % Of all the grace and beauty that endued Its motions, render up its majesty, Scatter its music on the unfeeling storm, And to the damp leaves and blue cavern mould, arses of rainbow flowers and branching moes, “ee Commit the colours of that varying cheek, That snowy breast, those dark and drooping eyes The dim and horned* moon hung low, and poured ‘sea of liste on the horizons verge PO ‘That overflowed its mountains. Yellow mist ‘es Filled the unbounded atmosphere, and drank ‘Wan moonlight even to fulness: not a star Shone, not @ sound was heard: the very winds, Danger's grim playmates, on that precipice Slept, clasped in his embrace.—0, storm of death! «10 Whose sightless* speed divides t And thou, colossal Skeleton, tha Guiding its irresistible career In thy devastating omnipotence, Art king of this frail world, from the red field Of slaughter, from the reeking hospital, ‘The patriot’s sacred couch, the snowy bed Of innocence, the scaffold and the throne, ‘A mighty voice invokes thee. Ruin calls, His brother Death. A rare and regal prey ‘0 He hath prepared, prowling around the world; Glutted with which thou mayst repose, and men Go to their graves like lowers or ereepi Nor ever more offer at thy dark shrine ‘The unheeded tribute of a broken heart, ing worms, © When on the threshold of the green recess The wanderer's footsteps fell, he knew that death ‘Was on him. Yet a little, ere it fled, Did he resign his high and holy soul To images of the majestic past, oo ‘That paused within his passive being now, Like winds that bear sweet music, when they breathe Through some dim laticed chamber. He did place His pale lean hand upon the rugged trunk Of the old pine. Upon an ivied stone ‘» Reclined his languid head, his limbs did rest, Diffused and motionless, on the smooth brink Ofthat obscurest® chasm;—and thus he lay, Surrendering to theie final impulses ‘The hovering powers of life. Hope and despair, The torturers, slept; no mortal pain or fear darkest Tbe gacene shaped withthe pins new Moan With held Moon inher sten? ‘hing ain Coleridge Dejectan: An ee b lavinible, or peshape ences, Death ALASTOR 1 783 adits mete TheSuaial oghhe ay rething here ‘At peace, and faintly smi p his last: sight Be Ws the great moon, which o'er the: ein ‘Of the wide world her mighty aie Lh ah ions ace wnrtewsoen dr ‘To mingle. Now upon the Jaane . It rests, and still as the divided frame es ‘Of the vast meteor® sunk, ah 's l, a eatgetsicie Wik sun ca ow ge eli ees oa the darkness, the alternate gasp. Pires metstda secre ce eats eee Wath he pute igre ins heat, ; It paused—it fluttered, But when hear {25 ck the my ses im ‘An image, silent, cold, and motionless, 3 ‘As their own voiceless earth and vacant air. rit henstsvapon fei polen yams That ministered on* sunlight, ere — Bn emetic kamet icing’gr one melon ing fie sen wanders Greet nihesnrec ened 0 Of youth, which night and time eve me OE a ead yard unre darkened Eee eam Wins on ‘oer it fell made the ees gleam ‘ * Perfo wuld conde bes Nee ec ates phate Fee on i Ge blgisiggencas Sera oe et - Lone as incarnate death! O, that the cen Of dark masala in nysonet cave, BE aes csstentis its! oes 72758 tee Acris md igen eatin Chr ot we ie Aiden incu Shelieys "The Ms 8 Neen brewed "avon, where tome the dying Acton; where some of |784 | PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY ‘ss Shakes in its last decay, were the true law. OF this so lovely world! But thou art fled Like some frail exhalation;* which the dawn Robes in its golden beams,—ah! thou hast fled! ~“ ‘The brave, the gentle, and the beautiful, 0 The child of grace and genius. Heartless things Are done and said i’ the world, and many worms And beasts and men live on, and mighty Earth From seaand mountain, ety and wilderness, In yesper' low or joyous orison,> > Lie lw lem voie-—but thou art led 7 ‘Thou canst no longer know or love the shay Of this phantasmal scene, who have to thee Been purest ministers, who are, alas! Now thou art not. Upon those pallid lips 700 So sweet even in their silence, on those eyes ‘That image sleep in death, upon that form Yet safe from the worm’ outrage, let no tear Be shed—not even in thought. Nor, when those hues Are gone, and those divinest lineaments, vs Worn by the senseless* wind, shall live alone In the frail pauses of this simple strain, Let not high verse, mourning the memory OF that which is no more, or painting's woe Gr sculpture, speak in fehl imagery 110 Their own cold powers. Art and eloquence, Anda the shew the world are fal ad ain ‘To weep a loss that turns their lights to shade. Icis a woe 100 “deep for teats," when all Is reftat once, when some surpassing Spirit, Whose light adorned the world around leaves Those who remain behind not sobs or groans, The passionate tumult of a clinging hope; But pale despair and eld trang” Nature's vast fr snfeling sme, the web of human things, v2 Birth and the grave, that are not as they were. 1815 1816 Mont Blanc! Lines Written in the Vale of Chamouni ‘The everlasting universe of things Flows through the mind, and ros its r 1. This pom, which Salley oth ches and segues th the poetry of matral detcpion ‘sticen by Wordstorth nd Caer was bse [ublahed a the cance ge the Vistry fs MONT BLANC | 785 Now lending splendour, where from secret springs 5 The source of human thought its tribute brings Of waters,—with a sound but half its own, Such as a feeble brook will oft assume In the wild woods, among the mountains lone, ‘Where waterfalls around it leap forever, Where woods and winds contend, and a vast ‘Over its rocks ceaselessly bursts and raves. ‘Thus thou, Ravine of Arve—dark, deep Ravine— ‘Thou many-coloured, many-voiced vale, Over whose pines, and crags, and caverns sail Fast cloud shadows and sunbeams: awful? scene, _awesinpiring ‘Where Power in likeness of the Arve comes down From the ice gulphs that gird his secret throne, Bursting through these dark mountains like the flame OF lightning through the tempest;—thou dost lie, ‘Thy giant brood of pines around thee clinging, Children of elder” time, in whose devotion air, ancient The chainless winds still come and ever came ‘To drink their odours, and their mighty swinging To hear—an old and solemn harmony; Thine earthly rainbows stretched across the sweep (Of the etherial waterfall, whose veil Robes some unsculptured? image; the strange sleep Which when the voices of the desart fail ‘Wraps al in its own deep eternity— 4» Thy caverns echoing to the Arve's commotion, AA Toud, lone sound no other sound can tames ‘Thou art pervaded with that ceaseless motion, ‘Thou art the path of that unresting sound— Dizzy Ravine! and when I gaze on thee [seem as in a trance sublime and strange ‘To muse on my own separate phantasy, Tele tthe cous elon a French po ‘atmos we tom newness ed oposal's Sabine ta gloy Reon aat Talib mtch ne nw sn ttre rea chanedso amass nt This sens, CT Sly eso Bellon f' Rerore ta isan edie ohn Cs Gd te ne he ae acter ead ceed cores throogheat "Mone Blane eth Shy er ‘se fed y hr "Mont Blanc” the plrty tha fret the mind orth external words Ege bythe shor deuvacive ower of he Tnfeerie Thomstawecoik dreied in ssotnii, Pee ers See aioe tes 5. tntsnot Sorvmed by assent: