Song: Rarely, rarely, comest thou

Percy Bysshe Shelley 1792 (Horsham) – 1822 (Lerici)



Rarely, rarely, comest thou,
        Spirit of Delight!
    Wherefore hast thou left me now
        Many a day and night?
    Many a weary night and day
    'Tis since thou are fled away.

    How shall ever one like me
        Win thee back again?
    With the joyous and the free
      Thou wilt scoff at pain.
  Spirit false! thou hast forgot
  All but those who need thee not.

  As a lizard with the shade
      Of a trembling leaf,
  Thou with sorrow art dismay'd;
      Even the sighs of grief
  Reproach thee, that thou art not near,
  And reproach thou wilt not hear.

  Let me set my mournful ditty
      To a merry measure;
  Thou wilt never come for pity,
      Thou wilt come for pleasure;
  Pity then will cut away
  Those cruel wings, and thou wilt stay.

  I love all that thou lovest,
      Spirit of Delight!
  The fresh Earth in new leaves dress'd,
      And the starry night;
  Autumn evening, and the morn
  When the golden mists are born.

  I love snow, and all the forms
      Of the radiant frost;
  I love waves, and winds, and storms,
      Everything almost
  Which is Nature's, and may be
  Untainted by man's misery.

  I love tranquil solitude,
      And such society
  As is quiet, wise, and good;
      Between thee and me
  What difference? but thou dost possess
  The things I seek, not love them less.

  I love Love--though he has wings,
      And like light can flee,
  But above all other things,
      Spirit, I love thee--
  Thou art love and life! Oh come,
  Make once more my heart thy home.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 23, 2023

1:18 min read
157

Quick analysis:

Scheme aBabcc dxdxee fgfgxx dhdhcc bBxbii jxjxdd xdxdkk ldldxx
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 1,490
Words 257
Stanzas 8
Stanza Lengths 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6

Percy Bysshe Shelley

Percy Bysshe Shelley was one of the major English Romantic poets and is regarded by critics as among the finest lyric poets in the English language. more…

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