The Complete Poetical Works of Percy Bysshe Shelley Part 114

MALPIGLIO: The Lady Leonora cannot know _5 That I have written a sonnet to her fame, In which I ... Venus and Adonis.

You should not take my gold and serve me not.

ALBANO: In truth I told her, and she smiled and said, 'If I am Venus, thou, coy Poesy, _10 Art the Adonis whom I love, and he The Erymanthian boar that wounded him.'

O trust to me, Signor Malpiglio, Those nods and smiles were favours worth the zechin.

MALPIGLIO: The words are twisted in some double sense _15 That I reach not: the smiles fell not on me.

PIGNA: How are the Duke and d.u.c.h.ess occupied?

ALBANO: Buried in some strange talk. The Duke was leaning, His finger on his brow, his lips unclosed.

The Princess sate within the window-seat, _20 And so her face was hid; but on her knee Her hands were clasped, veined, and pale as snow, And quivering--young Ta.s.so, too, was there.

MADDALO: Thou seest on whom from thine own wors.h.i.+pped heaven Thou drawest down smiles--they did not rain on thee. _25

MALPIGLIO: Would they were parching lightnings for his sake On whom they fell!

SONG FOR 'Ta.s.sO'.

[Published by Mrs. Sh.e.l.ley, "Posthumous Poems", 1824.]

1.

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, _5 Of all that men had thought before.

And all that Nature shows, and more.

2.

And still I love and still I think, But strangely, for my heart can drink The dregs of such despair, and live, _10 And love;...

And if I think, my thoughts come fast, I mix the present with the past, And each seems uglier than the last.

3.

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 cas.e.m.e.nt's ledge It fades, with such a sigh, as sedge _20 Breathes o'er the breezy streamlet's edge.

INVOCATION TO MISERY.

[Published by Medwin, "The Athenaeum", September 8, 1832. Reprinted (as "Misery, a Fragment") by Mrs. Sh.e.l.ley, "Poetical Works", 1839, 1st edition. Our text is that of 1839. A pencil copy of this poem is amongst the Sh.e.l.ley ma.n.u.scripts at the Bodleian Library. See Mr. C.D.

Loc.o.c.k's "Examination", etc., 1903, page 38. The readings of this copy are indicated by the letter B. in the footnotes.]

1.

Come, be happy!--sit near me, Shadow-vested Misery: Coy, unwilling, silent bride, Mourning in thy robe of pride, Desolation--deified! _5

2.

Come, be happy!--sit near me: Sad as I may seem to thee, I am happier far than thou, Lady, whose imperial brow Is endiademed with woe. _10

3.

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. _15

4.

'Tis an evil lot, and yet Let us make the best of it; If love can live when pleasure dies, We two will love, till in our eyes This heart's h.e.l.l seem Paradise. _20

5.

Come, be happy!--lie thee down On the fresh gra.s.s newly mown, Where the Gra.s.shopper doth sing Merrily--one joyous thing In a world of sorrowing! _25

6.

There our tent shall be the willow, And mine arm shall be thy pillow; Sounds and odours, sorrowful Because they once were sweet, shall lull Us to slumber, deep and dull. _30

7.

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? _35

8.

Kiss me;--oh! thy lips are cold: Round my neck thine arms enfold-- They are soft, but chill and dead; And thy tears upon my head Burn like points of frozen lead. _40

9.

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. _45

10.

Clasp me till our hearts be grown Like two shadows into one; Till this dreadful transport may Like a vapour fade away, In the sleep that lasts alway. _50

11.

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. _55

12.

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, Pa.s.s o'er night in mult.i.tudes. _60

13.

All the wide world, beside us, Show like mult.i.tudinous Puppets pa.s.sing from a scene; What but mockery can they mean, Where I am--where thou hast been? _65

NOTES: _1 near B., 1839; by 1832.

_8 happier far]merrier yet B.

_15 Hours or]Years and 1832.

_17 best]most 1832.

_19 We two will]We will 1832.

_27 mine arm shall be thy B., 1839; thine arm shall be my 1832.

_33 represented by asterisks, 1832.

_34, _35 Thou art murmuring, thou art weeping, Whilst my burning bosom's leaping 1832; Was thine icy bosom leaping While my burning heart was sleeping B.

_40 frozen 1832, 1839, B.; molten cj. Forman.

_44 be]is B.

_47 shadows]lovers 1832, B.

_59 which B., 1839; that 1832.

_62 Show]Are 1832, B.

_63 Puppets pa.s.sing]Shadows s.h.i.+fting 1832; Shadows pa.s.sing B.

_64, _65 So B.: What but mockery may they mean?

Where am I?--Where thou hast been 1832.