Analysis of The False Laurel And The True

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



'What art thou, Presumptuous, who profanest
The wreath to mighty poets only due,
Even whilst like a forgotten moon thou wanest?
Touch not those leaves which for the eternal few
Who wander o'er the Paradise of fame,
In sacred dedication ever grew:
One of the crowd thou art without a name.'
'Ah, friend, 'tis the false laurel that I wear;
Bright though it seem, it is not the same
As that which bound Milton’s immortal hair;
Its dew is poison; and the hopes that quicken
Under its chilling shade, though seeming fair,
Are flowers which die almost before they sicken.'


Scheme AAABCBCDCDEDE
Poetic Form
Metre 111010011 0111010101 10110010111 11111100101 1101001011 010010101 1101110101 1110110111 111111101 111110101 11110001110 1011011101 11011101110
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 566
Words 104
Sentences 4
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 13
Lines Amount 13
Letters per line (avg) 34
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 444
Words per stanza (avg) 100
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

30 sec read
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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…

All Percy Bysshe Shelley poems | Percy Bysshe Shelley Books

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