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.'

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

30 sec read
124

Quick analysis:

Scheme AAABCBCDCDEDE
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 566
Words 104
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 13

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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