When A Lover Clasps His Fairest

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



I.
When a lover clasps his fairest,
Then be our dread sport the rarest.
Their caresses were like the chaff
In the tempest, and be our laugh
His despair—her epitaph!

II.
When a mother clasps her child,
Watch till dusty Death has piled
His cold ashes on the clay;
She has loved it many a day--
She remains,—it fades away.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on May 02, 2023

18 sec read
177

Quick analysis:

Scheme AXXBBB ACCDDD
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 321
Words 63
Stanzas 2
Stanza Lengths 6, 6

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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