The Complete Poetical Works of Percy Bysshe Shelley Part 108

The eddy whirled her round and round _110 Before a gorgeous gate, which stood Piercing the clouds of smoke which bound Its aery arch with light like blood; She looked on that gate of marble clear, With wonder that extinguished fear. _115

19.

For it was filled with sculptures rarest, Of forms most beautiful and strange, Like nothing human, but the fairest Of winged shapes, whose legions range Throughout the sleep of those that are, _120 Like this same Lady, good and fair.

20.

And as she looked, still lovelier grew Those marble forms;--the sculptor sure Was a strong spirit, and the hue Of his own mind did there endure _125 After the touch, whose power had braided Such grace, was in some sad change faded.

21.

She looked, the flames were dim, the flood Grew tranquil as a woodland river Winding through hills in solitude; _130 Those marble shapes then seemed to quiver, And their fair limbs to float in motion, Like weeds unfolding in the ocean.

22.

And their lips moved; one seemed to speak, When suddenly the mountains cracked, _135 And through the chasm the flood did break With an earth-uplifting cataract: The statues gave a joyous scream, And on its wings the pale thin Dream Lifted the Lady from the stream. _140

23.

The dizzy flight of that phantom pale Waked the fair Lady from her sleep, And she arose, while from the veil Of her dark eyes the Dream did creep, And she walked about as one who knew _145 That sleep has sights as clear and true As any waking eyes can view.

NOTES: _18 golden 1819; gold 1824, 1839.

_28 or 1824; nor 1839.

_62 or]a cj. Rossetti.

_63 its]their cj. Rossetti.

_92 flames cj. Rossetti; waves 1819, 1824, 1839.

_101 mountains 1819; mountain 1824, 1839.

_106 flood]flames cj. James Thomson ('B.V.').

_120 that 1819, 1824; who 1839.

_135 mountains 1819; mountain 1824, 1839.

TO CONSTANTIA, SINGING.

[Published by Mrs. Sh.e.l.ley in "Posthumous Poems", 1824. Amongst the Sh.e.l.ley ma.n.u.scripts at the Bodleian is a chaotic first draft, from which Mr. Loc.o.c.k ["Examination", etc., 1903, pages 60-62] has, with patient ingenuity, disengaged a first and a second stanza consistent with the metrical scheme of stanzas 3 and 4. The two stanzas thus recovered are printed here immediately below the poem as edited by Mrs.

Sh.e.l.ley. It need hardly be added that Mr. Loc.o.c.k's restored version cannot, any more than Mrs. Sh.e.l.ley's obviously imperfect one, be regarded in the light of a final recension.]

1.

Thus to be lost and thus to sink and die, Perchance were death indeed!--Constantia, turn!

In thy dark eyes a power like light doth lie, Even though the sounds which were thy voice, which burn Between thy lips, are laid to sleep; _5 Within thy breath, and on thy hair, like odour, it is yet, And from thy touch like fire doth leap.

Even while I write, my burning cheeks are wet.

Alas, that the torn heart can bleed, but not forget!

2.

A breathless awe, like the swift change _10 Unseen, but felt in youthful slumbers, Wild, sweet, but uncommunicably strange, Thou breathest now in fast ascending numbers.

The cope of heaven seems rent and cloven By the enchantment of thy strain, _15 And on my shoulders wings are woven, To follow its sublime career Beyond the mighty moons that wane Upon the verge of Nature's utmost sphere, Till the world's shadowy walls are past and disappear. _20

3.

Her voice is hovering o'er my soul--it lingers O'ershadowing it with soft and lulling wings, The blood and life within those snowy fingers Teach witchcraft to the instrumental strings.

My brain is wild, my breath comes quick-- _25 The blood is listening in my frame, And thronging shadows, fast and thick, Fall on my overflowing eyes; My heart is quivering like a flame; As morning dew, that in the sunbeam dies, _30 I am dissolved in these consuming ecstasies.

4.

I have no life, Constantia, now, but thee, Whilst, like the world-surrounding air, thy song Flows on, and fills all things with melody.-- Now is thy voice a tempest swift and strong, _35 On which, like one in trance upborne, Secure o'er rocks and waves I sweep, Rejoicing like a cloud of morn.

Now 'tis the breath of summer night, Which when the starry waters sleep, Round western isles, with incense-blossoms bright, _40 Lingering, suspends my soul in its voluptuous flight.

STANZAS 1 AND 2.

As restored by Mr. C.D. Loc.o.c.k.

1.

Cease, cease--for such wild lessons madmen learn Thus to be lost, and thus to sink and die Perchance were death indeed!--Constantia turn In thy dark eyes a power like light doth lie Even though the sounds its voice that were _5 Between [thy] lips are laid to sleep: Within thy breath, and on thy hair Like odour, it is [lingering] yet And from thy touch like fire doth leap-- Even while I write, my burning cheeks are wet-- _10 Alas, that the torn heart can bleed but not forget.

2.

[A deep and] breathless awe like the swift change Of dreams unseen but felt in youthful slumbers Wild sweet yet incommunicably strange Thou breathest now in fast ascending numbers... _15

TO CONSTANTIA.

[Dated 1817 by Mrs. Sh.e.l.ley, and printed by her in the "Poetical Works", 1839, 1st edition. A copy exists amongst the Sh.e.l.ley ma.n.u.scripts at the Bodleian. See Mr. C.D. Loc.o.c.k's "Examination", etc., 1903, page 46.]

1.

The rose that drinks the fountain dew In the pleasant air of noon, Grows pale and blue with altered hue-- In the gaze of the nightly moon; For the planet of frost, so cold and bright, _5 Makes it wan with her borrowed light.

2.

Such is my heart--roses are fair, And that at best a withered blossom; But thy false care did idly wear Its withered leaves in a faithless bosom; _10 And fed with love, like air and dew, Its growth--

NOTES: _1 The rose]The red Rose B.

_2 pleasant]fragrant B.

_6 her omitted B.

FRAGMENT: TO ONE SINGING.

[Dated 1817 by Mrs. Sh.e.l.ley, and published in the "Poetical Works", 1839, 1st edition. The ma.n.u.script original, by which Mr. Loc.o.c.k has revised and (by one line) enlarged the text, is amongst the Sh.e.l.ley ma.n.u.scripts at the Bodleian. The metre, as Mr. Loc.o.c.k ("Examination", etc., 1903, page 63) points out, is terza rima.]

My spirit like a charmed bark doth swim Upon the liquid waves of thy sweet singing, Far far away into the regions dim

Of rapture--as a boat, with swift sails winging Its way adown some many-winding river, _5 Speeds through dark forests o'er the waters swinging...

NOTES: _3 Far far away B.; Far away 1839.

_6 Speeds...swinging B.; omitted 1839.

A FRAGMENT: TO MUSIC.

[Published in "Poetical Works", 1839, 1st edition.