Sonnet To Byron

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



[I am afraid these verses will not please you, but]

If I esteemed you less, Envy would kill
Pleasure, and leave to Wonder and Despair
The ministration of the thoughts that fill
The mind which, like a worm whose life may share
A portion of the unapproachable,
Marks your creations rise as fast and fair
As perfect worlds at the Creator’s will.

But such is my regard that nor your power
To soar above the heights where others [climb],
Nor fame, that shadow of the unborn hour
Cast from the envious future on the time,
Move one regret for his unhonoured name
Who dares these words:--the worm beneath the sod
May lift itself in homage of the God.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 21, 2023

36 sec read
287

Quick analysis:

Scheme X ABABABA CDCDDEE
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 640
Words 121
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 1, 7, 7

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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