And my spirit, which so long

Darkened this swift stream of song, Interpenetrated lie

By the glory of the sky:

Be it love, light, harmony,
Odor, or the soul of all

Which from heaven like dew doth fall,
Or the mind which feeds this verse
Peopling the lone universe.

Noon descends, and after noon
Autumn's evening meets me soon,
Leading the infantine moon
And that one star, which to her
Almost seems to minister
Half the crimson light she brings
From the sunset's radiant springs;
And the soft dreams of the morn
(Which like winged winds had borne
To that silent isle, which lies

Mid remembered agonies,

The frail bark of this lone being)

Pass, to other sufferers fleeing,
And its ancient pilot, Pain,
Sits beside the helm again.

Other flowering isles must be
In the sea of life and agony;
Other spirits float and flee
O'er that gulf: even now, perhaps,
On some rock the wild wave wraps,
With folding wings they waiting sit
For my bark, to pilot it

To some calm and blooming cove,
Where for me, and those I love,
May a windless bower be built,
Far from passion, pain, and guilt,
In a dell mid lawny hills,
Which the wild sea-murmur fills,
And soft sunshine, and the sound
Of old forests echoing round,
And the light and smell divine
Of all flowers that breathe and shine.
We may live so happy there,

That the spirits of the air,
Envying us, may even entice
To our healing paradise
The polluting multitude;
But their rage would be subdued
By that clime divine and calm,

And the winds whose wings rain balm
On the uplifted soul, and leaves
Under which the bright sea heaves;
While each breathless interval
In their whisperings musical
The inspired soul supplies
With its own deep melodies,
And the love which heals all strife,
Circling, like the breath of life,
All things in that sweet abode
With its own mild brotherhood.

They, not it, would change; and soon
Every sprite beneath the moon
Would repent its envy vain,
And the earth grow young again.

INVOCATION TO MISERY

I

COME, be happy! sit near me,
Shadow-vested Misery;

Coy, unwilling, silent bride,
Mourning in thy robe of pride,
Desolation - deified!

II

Come, be happy!-sit near me.
I may seem to thee,

Sad as

I am happier far than thou,
Lady, whose imperial brow
Is endiademed with woe.

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 ages yet to come.

IV

"Tis an evil lot, and yet

Let us make the best of it;

If love can live when pleasure dies,

Invocation to Misery, Medwin, 1832 || Misery, A Fragment, Mrs. Shelley, 18391. Published by Medwin, The Athenæum, September 8, 1832.

i. 1 near, Mrs. Shelley, 18391 || by, Medwin, 1832.

iii. 5 Hours or, Mrs. Shelley, 18391 || Years and, Medwin, 1832. iv. 2 best, Mrs. Shelley, 18391 || most, Medwin, 1832.

We two will love, till in our eyes
This heart's Hell seem Paradise.

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

VI

There our tent shall be the willow,
And mine arm shall be thy pillow;

Sounds and odors, sorrowful

Because they once were sweet, shall lull

Us to slumber, deep and dull.

VII

Ha! thy frozen pulses flutter

With a love thou darest not utter.

Thou art murmuring —thou art weeping –
Is thine icy bosom leaping

While my burning heart lies sleeping?

Kiss me;

VIII

-oh! thy lips are cold ; Round my neck thine arms enfold They are soft, but chill and dead;

iv. 4 We two will, Mrs. Shelley, 18391 || We will, Medwin, 1832. vi. 2 mine arm shall be thy, Mrs. Shelley, 18391 || thine arm shall

be my, Medwin, 1832.

vii. 3 asterisks, Medwin, 1832.

4, 5:

Thou art murmuring, thou art weeping,

Whilst my burning bosom's leaping.

Medwin, 1832.

And thy tears upon my head
Burn like points of frozen lead.

IX

Hasten to the bridal bed

Underneath the grave 'tis spread:
In darkness may our love be hid,
Oblivion be our coverlid

We may rest, and none forbid.

X

Clasp me, till our hearts be grown
Like two shadows into one;
Till this dreadful transport may
Like a vapor fade away

In the sleep that lasts alway.

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.

XII

Let us laugh, and make our mirth,
At the shadows of the earth,

As dogs bay the moonlight clouds,
Which, like spectres wrapped in shrouds,
Pass o'er night in multitudes.

viii. 5 frozen || molten, Forman conj.

x. 2 shadows, Mrs. Shelley, 18391 || lovers, Medwin, 1832, Boscombe MS.

xii. 4 That, Medwin, 1832.