Summer And Winter

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



It was a bright and cheerful afternoon,
Towards the end of the sunny month of June,
When the north wind congregates in crowds
The floating mountains of the silver clouds
From the horizon—and the stainless sky
Opens beyond them like eternity.
All things rejoiced beneath the sun; the weeds,
The river, and the corn-fields, and the reeds;
The willow leaves that glanced in the light breeze,
And the firm foliage of the larger trees.

It was a winter such as when birds die
In the deep forests; and the fishes lie
Stiffened in the translucent ice, which makes
Even the mud and slime of the warm lakes
A wrinkled clod as hard as brick; and when,
Among their children, comfortable men
Gather about great fires, and yet feel cold:
Alas, then, for the homeless beggar old!

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on May 03, 2023

41 sec read
214

Quick analysis:

Scheme AABBCXDDEE CCFFGGHH
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 760
Words 138
Stanzas 2
Stanza Lengths 10, 8

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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