Ah! grasp the dire dagger and couch the fell spear,
If vengeance and death to thy bosom be dear,
The dastard shall perish, death’s torment shall prove,
For fate and revenge are decreed from above.
Ah! where is the hero, whose nerves strung by youth,
Will defend the firm cause of justice and truth;
With insatiate desire whose bosom shall swell,
To give up the oppressor to judgement and Hell–
For him shall the fair one twine chaplets of bays,
To him shall each warrior give merited praise,
And triumphant returned from the clangour of arms,
He shall find his reward in his loved maiden’s charms.
In ecstatic confusion the warrior shall sip,
The kisses that glow on his love’s dewy lip,
And mutual, eternal, embraces shall prove,
The rewards of the brave are the transports of love.
OCTOBER, 1809.
(Percy Bysshe Shelley)
More Poetry from Percy Bysshe Shelley:
Percy Bysshe Shelley Poems based on Topics: Love, Death & Dying, Fairness, Eternity, Youth, Truth, Kiss, Revenge & Vengeance, Praise, Courage, Justice- 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)
- Prince Athanase (Percy Bysshe Shelley Poems)