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The Complete Poetical Works of Percy Bysshe Shelley — Volume 2Shelley, Percy Bysshe

General

The Complete Poetical Works of Percy Bysshe Shelley — Volume 2

Name: The Complete Poetical Works of Percy Bysshe Shelley — Volume 2
Author: Shelley, Percy Bysshe

Shelley, Percy Bysshe

English poetry

The artist who this idol wrought,
To echo all harmonious thought,
Felled a tree, while on the steep                                    _45
The woods were in their winter sleep,
Rocked in that repose divine
On the wind-swept Apennine;
And dreaming, some of Autumn past,
And some of Spring approaching fast,                                 _50
And some of April buds and showers,
And some of songs in July bowers,
And all of love; and so this tree,--
O that such our death may be!--
Died in sleep, and felt no pain,                                     _55
To live in happier form again:
From which, beneath Heaven's fairest star,
The artist wrought this loved Guitar,
And taught it justly to reply,
To all who question skilfully,                                       _60
In language gentle as thine own;
Whispering in enamoured tone
Sweet oracles of woods and dells,
And summer winds in sylvan cells;
For it had learned all harmonies                                     _65
Of the plains and of the skies,
Of the forests and the mountains,
And the many-voiced fountains;
The clearest echoes of the hills,
The softest notes of falling rills,                                  _70
The melodies of birds and bees,
The murmuring of summer seas,
And pattering rain, and breathing dew,
And airs of evening; and it knew
That seldom-heard mysterious sound,                                  _75
Which, driven on its diurnal round,
As it floats through boundless day,
Our world enkindles on its way.--
All this it knows, but will not tell
To those who cannot question well                                    _80
The Spirit that inhabits it;
It talks according to the wit
Of its companions; and no more
Is heard than has been felt before,
By those who tempt it to betray                                      _85
These secrets of an elder day:
But, sweetly as its answers will
Flatter hands of perfect skill,
It keeps its highest, holiest tone
For our beloved Jane alone.                                          _90

NOTES:
_12 Of more than ever]Of love that never 1833.
_46 woods Trelawny manuscript, 1839, 2nd edition;
    winds 1832, 1833, 1839, 1st edition.
_58 this Trelawny manuscript, 1839, 2nd edition;
    that 1832, 1833, 1839, 1st edition.
_61 thine own Trelawny manuscript, 1839, 2nd edition;
    its own 1832, 1833, 1839, 1st edition.
_76 on Trelawny manuscript, 1839, 2nd edition;
    in 1832, 1833, 1839, 1st edition.
_90 Jane Trelawny manuscript; friend 1832, 1833, editions 1839.

***


TO JANE: 'THE KEEN STARS WERE TWINKLING'.

[Published in part (lines 7-24) by Medwin (under the title, "An Ariette
for Music. To a Lady singing to her Accompaniment on the Guitar"), "The
Athenaeum", November 17, 1832; reprinted by Mrs. Shelley, "Poetical
Works", 1839, 1st edition. Republished in full (under the title, To
--.), "Poetical Works", 1839, 2nd edition. The Trelawny manuscript is
headed "To Jane". Mr. C.W. Frederickson of Brooklyn possesses a
transcript in an unknown hand.]

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

Opening the text

The Complete Poetical Works of Percy Bysshe Shelley — Volume 2Shelley, Percy Bysshe

General

The Complete Poetical Works of Percy Bysshe Shelley — Volume 2

Shelley, Percy Bysshe

English poetry

The artist who this idol wrought,
To echo all harmonious thought,
Felled a tree, while on the steep                                    _45
The woods were in their winter sleep,
Rocked in that repose divine
On the wind-swept Apennine;
And dreaming, some of Autumn past,
And some of Spring approaching fast,                                 _50
And some of April buds and showers,
And some of songs in July bowers,
And all of love; and so this tree,--
O that such our death may be!--
Died in sleep, and felt no pain,                                     _55
To live in happier form again:
From which, beneath Heaven's fairest star,
The artist wrought this loved Guitar,
And taught it justly to reply,
To all who question skilfully,                                       _60
In language gentle as thine own;
Whispering in enamoured tone
Sweet oracles of woods and dells,
And summer winds in sylvan cells;
For it had learned all harmonies                                     _65
Of the plains and of the skies,
Of the forests and the mountains,
And the many-voiced fountains;
The clearest echoes of the hills,
The softest notes of falling rills,                                  _70
The melodies of birds and bees,
The murmuring of summer seas,
And pattering rain, and breathing dew,
And airs of evening; and it knew
That seldom-heard mysterious sound,                                  _75
Which, driven on its diurnal round,
As it floats through boundless day,
Our world enkindles on its way.--
All this it knows, but will not tell
To those who cannot question well                                    _80
The Spirit that inhabits it;
It talks according to the wit
Of its companions; and no more
Is heard than has been felt before,
By those who tempt it to betray                                      _85
These secrets of an elder day:
But, sweetly as its answers will
Flatter hands of perfect skill,
It keeps its highest, holiest tone
For our beloved Jane alone.                                          _90

NOTES:
_12 Of more than ever]Of love that never 1833.
_46 woods Trelawny manuscript, 1839, 2nd edition;
    winds 1832, 1833, 1839, 1st edition.
_58 this Trelawny manuscript, 1839, 2nd edition;
    that 1832, 1833, 1839, 1st edition.
_61 thine own Trelawny manuscript, 1839, 2nd edition;
    its own 1832, 1833, 1839, 1st edition.
_76 on Trelawny manuscript, 1839, 2nd edition;
    in 1832, 1833, 1839, 1st edition.
_90 Jane Trelawny manuscript; friend 1832, 1833, editions 1839.

***


TO JANE: 'THE KEEN STARS WERE TWINKLING'.

[Published in part (lines 7-24) by Medwin (under the title, "An Ariette
for Music. To a Lady singing to her Accompaniment on the Guitar"), "The
Athenaeum", November 17, 1832; reprinted by Mrs. Shelley, "Poetical
Works", 1839, 1st edition. Republished in full (under the title, To
--.), "Poetical Works", 1839, 2nd edition. The Trelawny manuscript is
headed "To Jane". Mr. C.W. Frederickson of Brooklyn possesses a
transcript in an unknown hand.]

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

The Complete Poetical Works of Percy Bysshe Shelley — Volume 2

The Complete Poetical Works of Percy Bysshe Shelley — Volume 2

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