I.
I loved-alas! our life is love;
But when we cease to breathe and move
I do suppose love ceases too.
I thought, but not as now I do,
Keen thoughts and bright of linked lore,
Of all that men had thought before.
And all that Nature shows, and more.
II.
And still I love and still I think,
But strangely, for my heart can drink
The dregs of such despair, and live,
And love;…
And if I think, my thoughts come fast,
I mix the present with the past,
And each seems uglier than the last.
III.
Sometimes I see before me flee 15
A silver spirit’s form, like thee,
O Leonora, and I sit
…still watching it,
Till by the grated casement’s ledge
It fades, with such a sigh, as sedge
Breathes o’er the breezy streamlet’s edge.
(Percy Bysshe Shelley)
More Poetry from Percy Bysshe Shelley:
Percy Bysshe Shelley Poems based on Topics: Love, Mind, Life, Thought & Thinking, Past, Silver, Present- Julian and Maddalo : A Conversation (Percy Bysshe Shelley Poems)
- Epipsychidion (Percy Bysshe Shelley Poems)
- The Daemon Of The World (Percy Bysshe Shelley Poems)
- Scenes From The Faust Of Goethe (Percy Bysshe Shelley Poems)
- Queen Mab: Part VII. (Percy Bysshe Shelley Poems)
- Queen Mab: Part I. (Percy Bysshe Shelley Poems)
Readers Who Like This Poem Also Like:
Based on Topics: Love Poems, Life Poems, Mind Poems, Thought & Thinking Poems, Past Poems, Silver Poems, Present PoemsBased on Keywords: uglier, leonora