To Ianthe

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



I love thee, Baby! for thine own sweet sake;
Those azure eyes, that faintly dimpled cheek,
Thy tender frame, so eloquently weak,
Love in the sternest heart of hate might wake;
But more when o'er thy fitful slumber bending
Thy mother folds thee to her wakeful heart,
Whilst love and pity, in her glances blending,
All that thy passive eyes can feel impart:
More, when some feeble lineaments of her,
Who bore thy weight beneath her spotless bosom,
As with deep love I read thy face, recur,--
More dear art thou, O fair and fragile blossom;
Dearest when most thy tender traits express
The image of thy mother’s loveliness.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 22, 2023

33 sec read
143

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABBACDCDEFEFGG
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 618
Words 112
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 14

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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    Who wrote "Ode to the West Wind" that inspired a political and moral change?
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