The first verse indicates the transitoriness of all earthly beauty and happiness; the second, the suffering that lies concealed in the very happiness; and the third is an exhortation to enjoy the dream of happiness as long as possible. A mood of like nature has found expression in the incomparable poem which bears the simple title, _Lines_. This poem Shelley could not have written unless one after another of his own fond beliefs had evaporated, unless his passions for Harriet, for Mary, for Emilia Viviani, had ended in a sorrowful awakening. Yet it bears no trace of being a personal confession. It is an impassioned proclamation of the universal laws of life, first softly hummed, and then sung in a voice which has never had its equal. "When the lamp is shattered, The light in the dust lies dead; When the cloud is scattered, The rainbow's glory is shed; When the lute is broken, Sweet notes are remembered not; When the lips have spoken, Loved accents are soon forgot." The lines on the human heart in the third verse are as condensed as a couplet of Pope's and as melodious as bars of Beethoven:-- "O, Love, who bewailest The frailty of all things here, Why chose you the frailest For your cradle, your home, and your bier?" And the poem ends with this prophecy, in which we can hear the passions that have taken possession of the heart taking their wild will with it:-- "Its passions will rock thee, As the storms rock the ravens on high: Bright reason will mock thee, Like the sun from a wintry sky. From thy nest every rafter Will rot, and thine eagle home Leave thee naked to laughter When leaves fall and cold winds come."