[ { "title": "Lines Written From Home", "author": "Anne Bronte", "lines": [ "Though bleak these woods, and damp the ground", "With fallen leaves so thickly strown,", "And cold the wind that wanders round", "With wild and melancholy moan;", "There is a friendly roof, I know,", "Might shield me from the wintry blast;", "There is a fire, whose ruddy glow", "Will cheer me for my wanderings past.", "", "And so, though still, where'er I go,", "Cold stranger-glances meet my eye;", "Though, when my spirit sinks in woe,", "Unheeded swells the unbidden sigh;", "", "Though solitude, endured too long,", "Bids youthful joys too soon decay,", "Makes mirth a stranger to my tongue,", "And overclouds my noon of day;", "", "When kindly thoughts, that would have way,", "Flow back discouraged to my breast; --", "I know there is, though far away,", "A home where heart and soul may rest.", "", "Warm hands are there, that, clasped in mine,", "The warmer heart will not belie;", "While mirth, and truth, and friendship shine", "In smiling lip and earnest eye.", "", "The ice that gathers round my heart", "May there be thawed; and sweetly, then,", "The joys of youth, that now depart,", "Will come to cheer my soul again.", "", "Though far I roam, that thought shall be", "My hope, my comfort, everywhere;", "While such a home remains to me,", "My heart shall never know despair!" ], "linecount": "32" }, { "title": "from Jubilate Agno, Fragment B, lines 695-768", "author": "Christopher Smart", "lines": [ "For I will consider my Cat Jeoffry.", "For he is the servant of the Living God, duly and daily serving him.", "For at the first glance of the glory of God in the East he worships in his way.", "For is this done by wreathing his body seven times round with elegant quickness.", "For then he leaps up to catch the musk, which is the blessing of God upon his prayer.", "For he rolls upon prank to work it in.", "For having done duty and received blessing he begins to consider himself.", "For this he performs in ten degrees.", "For first he looks upon his forepaws to see if they are clean.", "For secondly he kicks up behind to clear away there.", "For thirdly he works it upon stretch with the forepaws extended.", "For fourthly he sharpens his paws by wood.", "For fifthly he washes himself.", "For sixthly he rolls upon wash.", "For seventhly he fleas himself, that he may not be interrupted upon the beat.", "For eighthly he rubs himself against a post.", "For ninthly he looks up for his instructions.", "For tenthly he goes in quest of food.", "For having considered God and himself he will consider his neighbor.", "For if he meets another cat he will kiss her in kindness.", "For when he takes his prey he plays with it to give it a chance.", "For one mouse in seven escapes by his dallying.", "For when his day's work is done his business more properly begins.", "For he keeps the Lord's watch in the night against the adversary.", "For he counteracts the powers of darkness by his electrical skin and glaring eyes.", "For he counteracts the Devil, who is death, by brisking about the life.", "For in his morning orisons he loves the sun and the sun loves him.", "For he is of the tribe of Tiger.", "For the Cherub Cat is a term of the Angel Tiger.", "For he has the subtlety and hissing of a serpent, which in goodness he suppresses.", "For he will not do destruction if he is well-fed, neither will he spit without provocation.", "For he purrs in thankfulness when God tells him he's a good Cat.", "For he is an instrument for the children to learn benevolence upon.", "For every house is incomplete without him, and a blessing is lacking in the spirit.", "For the Lord commanded Moses concerning the cats at the departure of the Children of Israel", "from Egypt.", "For every family had one cat at least in the bag.", "For the English Cats are the best in Europe.", "For he is the cleanest in the use of his forepaws of any quadruped.", "For the dexterity of his defense is an instance of the love of God to him exceedingly.", "For he is the quickest to his mark of any creature.", "For he is tenacious of his point.", "For he is a mixture of gravity and waggery.", "For he knows that God is his Saviour.", "For there is nothing sweeter than his peace when at rest.", "For there is nothing brisker than his life when in motion.", "For he is of the Lord's poor, and so indeed is he called by benevolence perpetually--Poor Jeoffry!", "poor Jeoffry! the rat has bit thy throat.", "For I bless the name of the Lord Jesus that Jeoffry is better.", "For the divine spirit comes about his body to sustain it in complete cat.", "For his tongue is exceeding pure so that it has in purity what it wants in music.", "For he is docile and can learn certain things.", "For he can sit up with gravity, which is patience upon approbation.", "For he can fetch and carry, which is patience in employment.", "For he can jump over a stick, which is patience upon proof positive.", "For he can spraggle upon waggle at the word of command.", "For he can jump from an eminence into his master's bosom.", "For he can catch the cork and toss it again.", "For he is hated by the hypocrite and miser.", "For the former is afraid of detection.", "For the latter refuses the charge.", "For he camels his back to bear the first notion of business.", "For he is good to think on, if a man would express himself neatly.", "For he made a great figure in Egypt for his signal services.", "For he killed the Icneumon rat, very pernicious by land.", "For his ears are so acute that they sting again.", "For from this proceeds the passing quickness of his attention.", "For by stroking of him I have found out electricity.", "For I perceived God's light about him both wax and fire.", "For the electrical fire is the spiritual substance which God sends from heaven to sustain the", "bodies both of man and beast.", "For God has blessed him in the variety of his movements.", "For, though he cannot fly, he is an excellent clamberer.", "For his motions upon the face of the earth are more than any other quadruped.", "For he can tread to all the measures upon the music.", "For he can swim for life.", "For he can creep." ], "linecount": "77" }, { "title": "Lines on Hearing it Declared that No Women Were So Handsome as the English", "author": "Robinson", "lines": [ "BEAUTY, the attribute of Heaven!", "In various forms to mortals given,", "With magic skill enslaves mankind,", "As sportive fancy sways the mind.", "Search the wide world, go where you will,", "VARIETY pursues you still;", "Capricious Nature knows no bound,", "Her unexhausted gifts are found", "In ev'ry clime, in ev'ry face,", "Each has its own peculiar grace.", "", "To GALLIA's frolic scenes repair,", "There reigns the tyny DEBONAIRE;", "The mincing step­the slender waist,", "The lip with bright vermilion grac'd:", "The short pert nose­the pearly teeth,", "With the small dimpled chin beneath,­", "The social converse, gay and free,", "The smart BON-MOT and REPARTEE.", "", "ITALIA boasts the melting fair,", "The pointed step, the haughty air,", "Th' empassion'd tone, the languid eye,", "The song of thrilling harmony;", "Insidious LOVE conceal'd in smiles", "That charms­and as it charms beguiles.", "", "View GRECIAN MAIDS, whose finish'd forms", "The wond'ring sculptor's fancy warms!", "There let thy ravish'd eye behold", "The softest gems of Nature's mould;", "Each charm, that REYNOLDS learnt to trace,", "From SHERIDAN's bewitching face.", "", "Imperious TURKEY's pride is seen", "In Beauty's rich luxuriant mien;", "The dark and sparkling orbs that glow", "Beneath a polish'd front of snow:", "The auburn curl that zephyr blows", "About the cheek of brightest rose:", "The shorten'd zone, the swelling breast,", "With costly gems profusely drest;", "Reclin'd in softly-waving bow'rs,", "On painted beds of fragrant flow'rs;", "Where od'rous canopies dispense", "ARABIA's spices to the sense;", "Where listless indolence and ease,", "Proclaim the sov'reign wish, to please.", "'Tis thus, capricious FANCY shows", "How far her frolic empire goes !", "", "On ASIA's sands, on ALPINE snow,", "We trace her steps where'er we go;", "The BRITISH Maid with timid grace;", "The tawny INDIAN 's varnish'd face;", "The jetty AFRICAN; the fair", "Nurs'd by EUROPA's softer air;", "With various charms delight the mind,", "For FANCY governs ALL MANKIND." ], "linecount": "54" }, { "title": "Lines Written by the Side of a River", "author": "Robinson", "lines": [ "FLOW soft RIVER, gently stray,", "Still a silent waving tide", "O'er thy glitt'ring carpet glide,", "While I chaunt my ROUNDELAY,", "As I gather from thy bank,", "Shelter'd by the poplar dank,", "King-cups, deck'd in golden pride,", "Harebells sweet, and daisies pied;", "While beneath the evening sky,", "Soft the western breezes fly.", "Gentle RIVER, should'st thou be", "Touch'd with mournful sympathy,", "When reflection tells my soul,", "Winter's icy breath shall quell", "Thy sweet bosom's graceful swell,", "And thy dimpling course controul;", "Should a crystal tear of mine,", "Fall upon thy lucid breast,", "Oh receive the trembling guest,", "For 'tis PITY'S drop divine!", "", "GENTLE ZEPHYR, softly play,", "Shake thy dewy wings around,", "Sprinkle odours o'er the ground,", "While I chaunt my ROUNDELAY.", "While the woodbine's mingling shade,", "Veils my pensive, drooping head;", "Fan, oh fan, the busy gale,", "That rudely wantons round my cheek,", "Where the tear of suff'rance meek,", "Glitters on the LILY pale:", "Ah! no more the damask ROSE,", "There in crimson lustre glows;", "Thirsty fevers from my lip", "Dare the ruddy drops to sip;", "Deep within my burning heart,", "Sorrow plants an icy dart;", "From whose point the soft tears flow,", "Melting in the vivid glow;", "Gentle Zephyr, should'st thou be", "Touch'd with tender sympathy;", "When reflection calls to mind,", "The bleak and desolating wind,", "That soon thy silken wing shall tear,", "And waft it on the freezing air;", "Zephyr, should a tender sigh", "To thy balmy bosom fly,", "Oh! receive the flutt'ring thing,", "Place it on thy filmy wing,", "Bear it to its native sky,", "For 'tis PITY'S softest sigh.", "", "", "O'er the golden lids of day", "Steals a veil of sober grey;", "Now the flow'rets sink to rest,", "On the moist earth's glitt'ring breast;", "Homeward now I'll bend my way,", "AND CHAUNT MY PLAINTIVE ROUNDELAY." ], "linecount": "56" }, { "title": "Lines to the memory of Richard Boyle, Esq.", "author": "Robinson", "lines": [ "\"Fate snatch'd him early to the pitying sky.\"", "", "- POPE.", "", "", "IF WORTH, too early to the grave consign'd,", "Can claim the pitying tear, or touch the mind ?", "If manly sentiments unstain'd by art,", "Could waken FRIENDSHIP, or delight the heart ?", "Ill-fated youth ! to THEE the MUSE shall pay", "The last sad tribute of a mournful lay;", "On thy lone grave shall MAY'S soft dews be shed,", "And fairest flowrets blossom o'er thy head;", "The drooping lily, and the snow-drop pale,", "Mingling their fragrant leaves, shall there recline,", "While CHERUBS hov'ring on th' ethereal gale,", "Shall chaunt a requiem o'er the hallow'd shrine.", "And if Reflection's piercing eye should scan", "The trivial frailties of imperfect MAN;", "If in thy generous heart those passions dwelt,", "Which all should own, and all that live have felt;", "Yet was thy polish'd mind so pure, so brave,", "The young admir'd thee, and the old forgave.", "", "And when stern FATE, with ruthless rancour, press'd", "Thy withering graces to her flinty breast;", "Bright JUSTICE darted from her bless'd abode,", "And bore thy VIRTUES to the throne of GOD;", "While cold OBLIVION stealing o'er thy mind,", "Each youthful folly to the grave consign'd.", "", "O, if thy purer spirit deigns to know", "Each thought that passes in this vale of woe,", "Accept the incense of a tender tear,", "By PITY wafted on a sigh sincere.", "And if the weeping MUSE a wreath could give", "To grace thy tomb, and bid thy VIRTUES live;", "THEN Wealth should blush the gilded mask to wear,", "And Avarice shrink the victim of Despair.", "While GENIUS bending o'er thy sable bier,", "Should mourn her darling SON with many a tear,", "While in her pensive form the world should view", "The ONLY PARENT that thy SORROWS knew." ], "linecount": "38" }, { "title": "Lines on Hearing That Lady Byron Was Ill", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "And thou wert sad--yet I was not with thee;", " And thou wert sick, and yet I was not near;", "Methought that Joy and Health alone could be", " Where I was _not_--and pain and sorrow here!", "And is it thus?--it is as I foretold,", " And shall be more so; for the mind recoils", "Upon itself, and the wrecked heart lies cold,", " While Heaviness collects the shattered spoils.", "It is not in the storm nor in the strife", " We feel benumbed, and wish to be no more,", " But in the after-silence on the shore,", "When all is lost, except a little life.", "", "I am too well avenged!--but 'twas my right;", " Whate'er my sins might be, _thou_ wert not sent", "To be the Nemesis who should requite--", " Nor did Heaven choose so near an instrument.", "Mercy is for the merciful!--if thou", "Hast been of such, 'twill be accorded now.", "Thy nights are banished from the realms of sleep:--", " Yes! they may flatter thee, but thou shall feel", " A hollow agony which will not heal,", "For thou art pillowed on a curse too deep;", "Thou hast sown in my sorrow, and must reap", " The bitter harvest in a woe as real!", "I have had many foes, but none like thee;", " For 'gainst the rest myself I could defend,", " And be avenged, or turn them into friend;", "But thou in safe implacability", "Hadst nought to dread--in thy own weakness shielded,", "And in my love, which hath but too much yielded,", " And spared, for thy sake, some I should not spare;", "And thus upon the world--trust in thy truth,", "And the wild fame of my ungoverned youth--", " On things that were not, and on things that are--", "Even upon such a basis hast thou built", "A monument, whose cement hath been guilt!", " The moral Clytemnestra of thy lord,", " And hewed down, with an unsuspected sword,", "Fame, peace, and hope--and all the better life", " Which, but for this cold treason of thy heart,", "Might still have risen from out the grave of strife,", " And found a nobler duty than to part.", "But of thy virtues didst thou make a vice,", " Trafficking with them in a purpose cold,", " For present anger, and for future gold--", "And buying others' grief at any price.", "And thus once entered into crooked ways,", "The early truth, which was thy proper praise,", "Did not still walk beside thee--but at times,", "And with a breast unknowing its own crimes,", "Deceit, averments incompatible,", "Equivocations, and the thoughts which dwell", " In Janus-spirits--the significant eye", "Which learns to lie with silence--the pretext", "Of prudence, with advantages annexed--", "The acquiescence in all things which tend,", "No matter how, to the desired end--", " All found a place in thy philosophy.", "The means were worthy, and the end is won--", "I would not do by thee as thou hast done!" ], "linecount": "60" }, { "title": "Windsor Poetics. Lines Composed on the Occasion of His Royal Highness the Prince Regent Being Seen Standing between the Coffins of Henry VIII. and Charles I., in the Royal Vault at Windsor", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "FAMED for contemptuous breach of sacred ties,", "By headless Charles see heartless Henry lies;", "Between them stands another sceptred thing--", "It moves, it reigns--in all but name, a king:", "", " Charles to his people, Henry to his wife,", "--In him the double tyrant starts to life:", "Justice and Death have mixed their dust in vain,", "Each royal Vampire wakes to life again.", "Ah, what can tombs avail!--since these disgorge", "The blood and dust of both--to mould a George." ], "linecount": "10" }, { "title": "Lines Addressed by Lord Byron to Mr. Hobhouse on His Election for Westminster", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "WOULD you go to the house by the true gate,", " Much faster than ever Whig Charley went;", "Let Parliament send you to Newgate,", " And Newgate will send you to Parliament." ], "linecount": "4" }, { "title": "123. Lines to an Old Sweetheart", "author": "Robert Burns", "lines": [ "ONCE fondly lov’d, and still remember’d dear,", " Sweet early object of my youthful vows,", "Accept this mark of friendship, warm, sincere,", " Friendship! ’tis all cold duty now allows.", "And when you read the simple artless rhymes,", " One friendly sigh for him—he asks no more,", "Who, distant, burns in flaming torrid climes,", " Or haply lies beneath th’ Atlantic roar." ], "linecount": "8" }, { "title": "Lines in Praise of the Lyric Club Banquet", "author": "William Topaz McGonagall", "lines": [ "Which was Held in the Queens Hotel, Perth, on the Evening of 5th September 1894", "", "", "'Twas in the year of 1894, and on the 5th of September,", "Which for a long time I will remember,", "And the gentlemen I entertained in the city of Perth,", "Which is one of the grandest cities upon the earth.", "", "At the Banquet there were gentlemen of high degree,", "And the viands they partook of filled their hearts with glee;", "There was Beef, Fish, and Potatoes galore,", "And we all ate until we could eat no more", "", "The gentlemen present were very kind to me,", "And the entertainment I gave them filled their hearts with glee;", "Especially the Recital I gave them from \"Macbeth\",", "They were so much fascinated they almost lost their breath.", "", "The audience were orderly and all went well,", "As cheerily and as smoothly as a marriage bell.", "Mr James Speedie was the chairman, and behaved right manfully,", "And sang a beautiful song, which filled our hearts with glee.", "", "But when I sang my \"Rattling Boy from Dublin Town\",", "The audience were like to pull the house down", "With the hearty applause they showered upon me,", "Because I sang the song so merrily.", "", "But, in conclusion, I must honestly say", "I haven't been so well treated for manv a day;", "Because I got a Splendid Bed in the Queen's Hotel,", "And the breakfast I got there I liked right well.", "", "The treatment I received there would please the Queen,", "Because the cooking is most excellent and the beds are clean;", "And, in conclusion, I return my thanks to one and all,", "Especially the members of the Lyric Club, big and small,", "Also the landlord of the Queen's Hotel, yours truly,", "McGonagall." ], "linecount": "31" }, { "title": "Lines in Praise of Professor Blackie", "author": "William Topaz McGonagall", "lines": [ "Alas! the people's hearts are now full of sorrow", "For the deceased Professor Blackie, of Edinboro';", "Because he was a Christian man, affable and kind,", "And his equal in charitable actions would be hard to find", "", "'Twas in the year of 1895, March the 2nd, he died at 10 o'clock.", "Which to his dear wife, and his adopted son, was a great shock;", "And before he died he bade farewell to his adopted son and wife.", "Which, no doubt, they will remember during life.", "", "Professor Blackie celebrated his golden wedding three years ago,", "When he was made the recipient of respect from high and low.", "He leaves a widow, but, fortunately, no family,", "Which will cause Mrs. Blackie to feel less unhappy.", "", "Professor Blackie will be greatly missed in Edinboro;", "Especially those that met him daily will feel great sorrow,", "When they think of his never-failing plaid and hazel rung,", "For, although he was an old man, he considered he was young.", "", "He had a very striking face, and silvery locks like a seer,", "And in the hearts of the Scottish people he was loved most dear;", "And many a heart will mourn for him, but all in vain,", "Because he never can return to them again.", "", "He was a very kind-hearted man, and in no way vain,", "And I'm afraid we ne'er shall look upon his like again;", "And to hear him tell Scotch stories, the time did quickly pass,", "And for singing Scotch songs few could him surpass.", "", "But I hope e is in heaven, singing with saints above,", "Around God's throne, where all is peace and love;", "There, where God's children daily doth meet", "To sing praises to God, enchanting and sweet.", "", "He had visited almost every part of Europe in his time,", "And, like Lord Byron, he loved the Grecian clime;", "Nor did he neglect his own dear country,", "And few men knew it more thoroughly than he.", "", "On foot he tramped o'er most of bonnie Scotland,", "And in his seventies he climbed the highest hills most grand.", "Few men in his day could be compared to him,", "Because he wasn't hard on fallen creatures when they did sin.", "", "Oh, dearly beloved Professor Blackie, I must conclude my muse,", "And to write in praise of thee my pen does not refuse;", "Because you were a very Christian man, be it told,", "Worthy of a monument, and your name written thereon in letters of gold." ], "linecount": "40" }, { "title": "Lines Written In Early Spring", "author": "William Wordsworth", "lines": [ "I heard a thousand blended notes,", "While in a grove I sate reclined,", "In that sweet mood when pleasant thoughts", "Bring sad thoughts to the mind.", "", "To her fair works did Nature link", "The human soul that through me ran;", "And much it grieved my heart to think", "What man has made of man.", "", "Through primrose tufts, in that green bower,", "The periwinkle trailed its wreaths;", "And 'tis my faith that every flower", "Enjoys the air it breathes.", "", "The birds around me hopped and played,", "Their thoughts I cannot measure:--", "But the least motion which they made", "It seemed a thrill of pleasure.", "", "The budding twigs spread out their fan,", "To catch the breezy air;", "And I must think, do all I can,", "That there was pleasure there.", "", "If this belief from heaven be sent,", "If such be Nature's holy plan,", "Have I not reason to lament", "What man has made of man?" ], "linecount": "24" }, { "title": "Sonnet 4: Unthrifty loveliness, why dost thou spend", "author": "William Shakespeare", "lines": [ "Unthrifty loveliness, why dost thou spend", "Upon thy self thy beauty's legacy?", "Nature's bequest gives nothing, but doth lend,", "And being frank she lends to those are free:", "Then, beauteous niggard, why dost thou abuse", "The bounteous largess given thee to give?", "Profitless usurer, why dost thou use", "So great a sum of sums, yet canst not live?", "For having traffic with thy self alone,", "Thou of thy self thy sweet self dost deceive:", "Then how when nature calls thee to be gone,", "What acceptable audit canst thou leave?", " Thy unused beauty must be tombed with thee,", " Which, used, lives th' executor to be." ], "linecount": "14" }, { "title": "Sonnet 115: Those lines that I before have writ do lie", "author": "William Shakespeare", "lines": [ "Those lines that I before have writ do lie,", "Even those that said I could not love you dearer:", "Yet then my judgment knew no reason why", "My most full flame should afterwards burn clearer.", "But reckoning Time, whose million'd accidents", "Creep in 'twixt vows, and change decrees of kings,", "Tan sacred beauty, blunt the sharp'st intents,", "Divert strong minds to the course of altering things;", "Alas! why fearing of Time's tyranny,", "Might I not then say, 'Now I love you best,'", "When I was certain o'er incertainty,", "Crowning the present, doubting of the rest?", " Love is a babe, then might I not say so,", " To give full growth to that which still doth grow?" ], "linecount": "14" }, { "title": "Lines Written in \"Letters of an Italian Nun and an English Gentleman, by J. J. Rousseau; Founded on Facts.\"", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "\"Away, away,--your flattering arts", "May now betray some simpler hearts;", "And _you_ will _smile_ at their believing,", "And _they_ shall _weep_ at your deceiving.\"" ], "linecount": "4" }, { "title": "Lines Addressed to a Young Lady", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "Doubtless, sweet girl! the hissing lead,", " Wafting destruction o'er thy charms", "And hurtling o'er thy lovely head,", " Has fill'd that breast with fond alarms.", "", "Surely some envious Demon's force,", " Vex'd to behold such beauty here,", "Impell'd the bullet's viewless course,", " Diverted from its first career.", "", "Yes! in that nearly fatal hour,", " The ball obey'd some hell-born guide;", "But Heaven, with interposing power,", " In pity turn'd the death aside.", "", "Yet, as perchance one trembling tear", " Upon that thrilling bosom fell;", "Which _I_, th' unconscious cause of fear,", " Extracted from its glistening cell;--", "", "Say, what dire penance can atone", " For such an outrage, done to thee?", "Arraign'd before thy beauty's throne,", " What punishment wilt thou decree?", "", "Might I perform the Judge's part,", " The sentence I should scarce deplore;", "It only would restore a heart,", " Which but belong'd to _thee_ before.", "", "The least atonement I can make", " Is to become no longer free;", "Henceforth, I breathe but for thy sake,", " Thou shalt be _all in all_ to me.", "", "But thou, perhaps, may'st now reject", " Such expiation of my guilt;", "Come then--some other mode elect?", " Let it be death--or what thou wilt.", "", "Choose, then, relentless! and I swear", " Nought shall thy dread decree prevent;", "Yet hold--one little word forbear!", " Let it be aught but banishment." ], "linecount": "36" }, { "title": "Lines. Addressed to the Rev. J. T. Becher, on His Advising the Author to Mix More With Society", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "Dear BECHER, you tell me to mix with mankind;", " I cannot deny such a precept is wise;", "But retirement accords with the tone of my mind:", " I will not descend to a world I despise.", "", "Did the Senate or Camp my exertions require,", " Ambition might prompt me, at once, to go forth;", "When Infancy's years of probation expire,", " Perchance, I may strive to distinguish my birth.", "", "The fire, in the cavern of Etna, conceal'd,", " Still mantles unseen in its secret recess;", "At length, in a volume terrific, reveal'd,", " No torrent can quench it, no bounds can repress.", "", "Oh! thus, the desire, in my bosom, for fame", " Bids me live, but to hope for Posterity's praise.", "Could I soar with the Phoenix on pinions of flame,", " With him I would wish to expire in the blaze.", "", "For the life of a Fox, of a Chatham the death,", " What censure, what danger, what woe would I brave!", "Their lives did not end, when they yielded their breath,", " Their glory illumines the gloom of their grave", "", "Yet why should I mingle in Fashion's full herd?", " Why crouch to her leaders, or cringe to her rules?", "Why bend to the proud, or applaud the absurd?", " Why search for delight, in the friendship of fools?", "", "I have tasted the sweets, and the bitters, of love,", " In friendship I early was taught to believe;", "My passion the matrons of prudence reprove,", " I have found that a friend may profess, yet deceive.", "", "To me what is wealth?--it may pass in an hour,", " If Tyrants prevail, or if Fortune should frown:", "To me what is title?--the phantom of power;", " To me what is fashion?--I seek but renown.", "", "Deceit is a stranger, as yet, to my soul;", " I, still, am unpractised to varnish the truth:", "Then, why should I live in a hateful controul?", " Why waste, upon folly, the days of my youth?" ], "linecount": "36" }, { "title": "Lines Written Beneath an Elm in the Churchyard of Harrow", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "Spot of my youth! whose hoary branches sigh,", "Swept by the breeze that fans thy cloudless sky;", "Where now alone I muse, who oft have trod,", "With those I loved, thy soft and verdant sod;", "With those who, scatter'd far, perchance deplore,", "Like me, the happy scenes they knew before:", "Oh! as I trace again thy winding hill,", "Mine eyes admire, my heart adores thee still,", "Thou drooping Elm! beneath whose boughs I lay,", "And frequent mus'd the twilight hours away;", "Where, as they once were wont, my limbs recline,", "But, ah! without the thoughts which then were mine:", "How do thy branches, moaning to the blast,", "Invite the bosom to recall the past,", "And seem to whisper, as they gently swell,", "\"Take, while thou canst, a lingering, last farewell!\"", "", " When Fate shall chill, at length, this fever'd breast,", "And calm its cares and passions into rest,", "Oft have I thought, 'twould soothe my dying hour,--", "If aught may soothe, when Life resigns her power,--", "To know some humbler grave, some narrow cell,", "Would hide my bosom where it lov'd to dwell;", "With this fond dream, methinks 'twere sweet to die--", "And here it linger'd, here my heart might lie;", "Here might I sleep where all my hopes arose,", "Scene of my youth, and couch of my repose;", "For ever stretch'd beneath this mantling shade,", "Press'd by the turf where once my childhood play'd;", "Wrapt by the soil that veils the spot I lov'd,", "Mix'd with the earth o'er which my footsteps mov'd;", "Blest by the tongues that charm'd my youthful ear,", "Mourn'd by the few my soul acknowledged here;", "Deplor'd by those in early days allied,", "And unremember'd by the world beside." ], "linecount": "34" }, { "title": "Lines Inscribed upon a Cup Formed From a Skull", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "Start not--nor deem my spirit fled:", " In me behold the only skull,", "From which, unlike a living head,", " Whatever flows is never dull.", "", "I lived, I loved, I quaff'd, like thee:", " I died: let earth my bones resign;", "Fill up--thou canst not injure me;", " The worm hath fouler lips than thine.", "", "Better to hold the sparkling grape,", " Than nurse the earth-worm's slimy brood;", "And circle in the goblet's shape", " The drink of Gods, than reptile's food.", "", "Where once my wit, perchance, hath shone,", " In aid of others' let me shine;", "And when, alas! our brains are gone,", " What nobler substitute than wine?", "", "Quaff while thou canst: another race,", " When thou and thine, like me, are sped,", "May rescue thee from earth's embrace,", " And rhyme and revel with the dead.", "", "Why not? since through life's little day", " Our heads such sad effects produce;", "Redeem'd from worms and wasting clay,", " This chance is theirs, to be of use." ], "linecount": "24" }, { "title": "Lines Written in an Album, at Malta", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "As o'er the cold sepulchral stone", " Some _name_ arrests the passer-by;", "Thus, when thou view'st this page alone,", " May _mine_ attract thy pensive eye!", "", "And when by thee that name is read,", " Perchance in some succeeding year,", "Reflect on _me_ as on the _dead_,", " And think my _Heart_ is buried _here_." ], "linecount": "8" }, { "title": "Lines in the Travellers' Book at Orchomenus", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "IN THIS BOOK A TRAVELLER HAD WRITTEN:--", "", "\"Fair Albion, smiling, sees her son depart", "To trace the birth and nursery of art:", "Noble his object, glorious is his aim;", "He comes to Athens, and he--writes his name.\"", "", "BENEATH WHICH LORD BYRON INSERTED THE FOLLOWING:--", "", "The modest bard, like many a bard unknown,", "Rhymes on our names, but wisely hides his own;", "But yet, whoe'er he be, to say no worse,", "His name would bring more credit than his verse." ], "linecount": "10" }, { "title": "Lines Written Beneath a Picture", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "Dear object of defeated care!", " Though now of Love and thee bereft,", "To reconcile me with despair", " Thine image and my tears are left.", "", "'Tis said with Sorrow Time can cope;", " But this I feel can ne'er be true:", "For by the death-blow of my Hope", " My Memory immortal grew." ], "linecount": "8" }, { "title": "Lines to a Lady Weeping", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "Weep, daughter of a royal line,", " A Sire's disgrace, a realm's decay;", "Ah! happy if each tear of thine", " Could wash a Father's fault away!", "Weep--for thy tears are Virtue's tears--", " Auspicious to these suffering Isles;", "And be each drop in future years", " Repaid thee by thy People's smiles!" ], "linecount": "8" }, { "title": "Lines Written on a Blank Leaf of _the Pleasures of Memory_", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "Absent or present, still to thee,", " My friend, what magic spells belong!", "As all can tell, who share, like me,", " In turn thy converse, and thy song.", "", "But when the dreaded hour shall come", " By Friendship ever deemed too nigh,", "And \"Memory\" o'er her Druid's tomb", " Shall weep that aught of thee can die,", "", "How fondly will she then repay", " Thy homage offered at her shrine,", "And blend, while ages roll away,", " _Her_ name immortally with _thine_!" ], "linecount": "12" }, { "title": "Lines to Mr. Hodgson. Written on Board the Lisbon Packet", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "HUZZA! Hodgson, we are going,", " Our embargo's off at last;", "Favourable breezes blowing", " Bend the canvas o'er the mast.", "From aloft the signal's streaming,", " Hark! the farewell gun is fired;", "Women screeching, tars blaspheming,", " Tell us that our time's expired.", " Here's a rascal", " Come to task all,", " Prying from the Custom-house;", " Trunks unpacking", " Cases cracking,", " Not a corner for a mouse", "Scapes unsearched amid the racket,", "Ere we sail on board the Packet.", "", "Now our boatmen quit their mooring,", " And all hands must ply the oar;", "Baggage from the quay is lowering,", " We're impatient, push from shore.", "\"Have a care! that case holds liquor--", " Stop the boat--I'm sick--oh Lord!\"", "\"Sick, Ma'am, damme, you'll be sicker,", " Ere you've been an hour on board.\"", " Thus are screaming", " Men and women,", " Gemmen, ladies, servants, Jacks;", " Here entangling,", " All are wrangling,", " Stuck together close as wax.--", "Such the general noise and racket,", "Ere we reach the Lisbon Packet.", "", "Now we've reached her, lo! the Captain,", " Gallant Kidd, commands the crew;", "Passengers their berths are clapt in,", " Some to grumble, some to spew.", "\"Hey day! call you that a cabin?", " Why't is hardly three feet square!", "Not enough to stow Queen Mab in--", " Who the deuce can harbour there?\"", " \"Who, sir? plenty--", " Nobles twenty", " Did at once my vessel fill.\"--", " \"Did they? Jesus,", " How you squeeze us!", " Would to God they did so still!", "Then I'd 'scape the heat and racket", "Of the good ship, Lisbon Packet.\"", "", "Fletcher! Murray! Bob! where are you?", " Stretched along the deck like logs--", "Bear a hand, you jolly tar, you!", " Here's a rope's end for the dogs.", "Hobhouse muttering fearful curses,", " As the hatchway down he rolls,", "Now his breakfast, now his verses,", " Vomits forth--and damns our souls.", " \"Here's a stanza", " On Braganza--", " Help!\"--\"A couplet?\"--\"No, a cup", " Of warm water--\"", " \"What's the matter?\"", " \"Zounds! my liver's coming up;", "I shall not survive the racket", "Of this brutal Lisbon Packet.\"", "", "Now at length we're off for Turkey,", " Lord knows when we shall come back!", "Breezes foul and tempests murky", " May unship us in a crack.", "But, since Life at most a jest is,", " As philosophers allow,", "Still to laugh by far the best is,", " Then laugh on--as I do now.", " Laugh at all things,", " Great and small things,", " Sick or well, at sea or shore;", " While we're quaffing,", " Let's have laughing--", " Who the devil cares for more?--", "Some good wine! and who would lack it,", "Ev'n on board the Lisbon Packet?" ], "linecount": "80" }, { "title": "Lines", "author": "Percy Bysshe Shelley", "lines": [ "The cold earth slept below,", "Above the cold sky shone;", "And all around, with a chilling sound,", "From caves of ice and fields of snow,", "The breath of night like death did flow", "Beneath the sinking moon.", "", "The wintry hedge was black,", "The green grass was not seen,", "The birds did rest on the bare thorn's breast,", "Whose roots, beside the pathway track,", "Had bound their folds o'er many a crack", "Which the frost had made between.", "", "Thine eyes glowed in the glare", "Of the moon's dying light;", "As a fen-fire's beam on a sluggish stream", "Gleams dimly, so the moon shone there,", "And it yellowed the strings of thy raven hair,", "That shook in the wind of night.", "", "The moon made thy lips pale, beloved--", "The wind made thy bosom chill--", "The night did shed on thy dear head", "Its frozen dew, and thou didst lie", "Where the bitter breath of the naked sky", "Might visit thee at will." ], "linecount": "24" }, { "title": "Lines", "author": "Percy Bysshe Shelley", "lines": [ "That time is dead for ever, child!", "Drowned, frozen, dead for ever!", "We look on the past", "And stare aghast", "At the spectres wailing, pale and ghast,", "Of hopes which thou and I beguiled", "To death on life's dark river.", "", "The stream we gazed on then rolled by;", "Its waves are unreturning;", "But we yet stand", "In a lone land,", "Like tombs to mark the memory", "Of hopes and fears, which fade and flee", "In the light of life's dim morning." ], "linecount": "14" }, { "title": "Lines to a Critic", "author": "Percy Bysshe Shelley", "lines": [ "Honey from silkworms who can gather,", "Or silk from the yellow bee?", "The grass may grow in winter weather", "As soon as hate in me.", "", "Hate men who cant, and men who pray,", "And men who rail like thee;", "An equal passion to repay", "They are not coy like me.", "", "Or seek some slave of power and gold", "To be thy dear heart's mate;", "Thy love will move that bigot cold", "Sooner than me, thy hate.", "", "A passion like the one I prove", "Cannot divided be;", "I hate thy want of truth and love--", "How should I then hate thee?" ], "linecount": "16" }, { "title": "Lines Written Among the Euganean Hills", "author": "Percy Bysshe Shelley", "lines": [ "OCTOBER, 1818.", "", "Many a green isle needs must be", "In the deep wide sea of Misery,", "Or the mariner, worn and wan,", "Never thus could voyage on--", "Day and night, and night and day,", "Drifting on his dreary way,", "With the solid darkness black", "Closing round his vessel's track:", "Whilst above the sunless sky,", "Big with clouds, hangs heavily,", "And behind the tempest fleet", "Hurries on with lightning feet,", "Riving sail, and cord, and plank,", "Till the ship has almost drank", "Death from the o'er-brimming deep;", "And sinks down, down, like that sleep", "When the dreamer seems to be", "Weltering through eternity;", "And the dim low line before", "Of a dark and distant shore", "Still recedes, as ever still", "Longing with divided will,", "But no power to seek or shun,", "He is ever drifted on", "O'er the unreposing wave", "To the haven of the grave.", "What, if there no friends will greet;", "What, if there no heart will meet", "His with love's impatient beat;", "Wander wheresoe'er he may,", "Can he dream before that day", "To find refuge from distress", "In friendship's smile, in love's caress?", "Then 'twill wreak him little woe", "Whether such there be or no:", "Senseless is the breast, and cold,", "Which relenting love would fold;", "Bloodless are the veins and chill", "Which the pulse of pain did fill;", "Every little living nerve", "That from bitter words did swerve", "Round the tortured lips and brow,", "Are like sapless leaflets now", "Frozen upon December's bough.", "", "On the beach of a northern sea", "Which tempests shake eternally,", "As once the wretch there lay to sleep,", "Lies a solitary heap,", "One white skull and seven dry bones,", "On the margin of the stones,", "Where a few gray rushes stand,", "Boundaries of the sea and land:", "Nor is heard one voice of wail", "But the sea-mews, as they sail", "O'er the billows of the gale;", "Or the whirlwind up and down", "Howling, like a slaughtered town,", "When a king in glory rides", "Through the pomp of fratricides:", "Those unburied bones around", "There is many a mournful sound;", "There is no lament for him,", "Like a sunless vapour, dim,", "Who once clothed with life and thought", "What now moves nor murmurs not.", "", "Ay, many flowering islands lie", "In the waters of wide Agony:", "To such a one this morn was led,", "My bark by soft winds piloted:", "'Mid the mountains Euganean", "I stood listening to the paean", "With which the legioned rooks did hail", "The sun's uprise majestical;", "Gathering round with wings all hoar,", "Through the dewy mist they soar", "Like gray shades, till the eastern heaven", "Bursts, and then, as clouds of even,", "Flecked with fire and azure, lie", "In the unfathomable sky,", "So their plumes of purple grain,", "Starred with drops of golden rain,", "Gleam above the sunlight woods,", "As in silent multitudes", "On the morning's fitful gale", "Through the broken mist they sail,", "And the vapours cloven and gleaming", "Follow, down the dark steep streaming,", "Till all is bright, and clear, and still,", "Round the solitary hill.", "", "Beneath is spread like a green sea", "The waveless plain of Lombardy,", "Bounded by the vaporous air,", "Islanded by cities fair;", "Underneath Day's azure eyes", "Ocean's nursling, Venice lies,", "A peopled labyrinth of walls,", "Amphitrite's destined halls,", "Which her hoary sire now paves", "With his blue and beaming waves.", "Lo! the sun upsprings behind,", "Broad, red, radiant, half-reclined", "On the level quivering line", "Of the waters crystalline;", "And before that chasm of light,", "As within a furnace bright,", "Column, tower, and dome, and spire,", "Shine like obelisks of fire,", "Pointing with inconstant motion", "From the altar of dark ocean", "To the sapphire-tinted skies;", "As the flames of sacrifice", "From the marble shrines did rise,", "As to pierce the dome of gold", "Where Apollo spoke of old.", "", "Sun-girt City, thou hast been", "Ocean's child, and then his queen;", "Now is come a darker day,", "And thou soon must be his prey,", "If the power that raised thee here", "Hallow so thy watery bier.", "A less drear ruin then than now,", "With thy conquest-branded brow", "Stooping to the slave of slaves", "From thy throne, among the waves", "Wilt thou be, when the sea-mew", "Flies, as once before it flew,", "O'er thine isles depopulate,", "And all is in its ancient state,", "Save where many a palace gate", "With green sea-flowers overgrown", "Like a rock of Ocean's own,", "Topples o'er the abandoned sea", "As the tides change sullenly.", "The fisher on his watery way,", "Wandering at the close of day,", "Will spread his sail and seize his oar", "Till he pass the gloomy shore,", "Lest thy dead should, from their sleep", "Bursting o'er the starlight deep,", "Lead a rapid masque of death", "O'er the waters of his path.", "", "Those who alone thy towers behold", "Quivering through aereal gold,", "As I now behold them here,", "Would imagine not they were", "Sepulchres, where human forms,", "Like pollution-nourished worms,", "To the corpse of greatness cling,", "Murdered, and now mouldering:", "But if Freedom should awake", "In her omnipotence, and shake", "From the Celtic Anarch's hold", "All the keys of dungeons cold,", "Where a hundred cities lie", "Chained like thee, ingloriously,", "Thou and all thy sister band", "Might adorn this sunny land,", "Twining memories of old time", "With new virtues more sublime;", "If not, perish thou and they!--", "Clouds which stain truth's rising day", "By her sun consumed away--", "Earth can spare ye: while like flowers,", "In the waste of years and hours,", "From your dust new nations spring", "With more kindly blossoming.", "", "Perish--let there only be", "Floating o'er thy hearthless sea", "As the garment of thy sky", "Clothes the world immortally,", "One remembrance, more sublime", "Than the tattered pall of time,", "Which scarce hides thy visage wan;--", "That a tempest-cleaving Swan", "Of the songs of Albion,", "Driven from his ancestral streams", "By the might of evil dreams,", "Found a nest in thee; and Ocean", "Welcomed him with such emotion", "That its joy grew his, and sprung", "From his lips like music flung", "O'er a mighty thunder-fit,", "Chastening terror:--what though yet", "Poesy's unfailing River,", "Which through Albion winds forever", "Lashing with melodious wave", "Many a sacred Poet's grave,", "Mourn its latest nursling fled?", "What though thou with all thy dead", "Scarce can for this fame repay", "Aught thine own? oh, rather say", "Though thy sins and slaveries foul", "Overcloud a sunlike soul?", "As the ghost of Homer clings", "Round Scamander's wasting springs;", "As divinest Shakespeare's might", "Fills Avon and the world with light", "Like omniscient power which he", "Imaged 'mid mortality;", "As the love from Petrarch's urn,", "Yet amid yon hills doth burn,", "A quenchless lamp by which the heart", "Sees things unearthly;--so thou art,", "Mighty spirit--so shall be", "The City that did refuge thee.", "", "Lo, the sun floats up the sky", "Like thought-winged Liberty,", "Till the universal light", "Seems to level plain and height;", "From the sea a mist has spread,", "And the beams of morn lie dead", "On the towers of Venice now,", "Like its glory long ago.", "By the skirts of that gray cloud", "Many-domed Padua proud", "Stands, a peopled solitude,", "'Mid the harvest-shining plain,", "Where the peasant heaps his grain", "In the garner of his foe,", "And the milk-white oxen slow", "With the purple vintage strain,", "Heaped upon the creaking wain,", "That the brutal Celt may swill", "Drunken sleep with savage will;", "And the sickle to the sword", "Lies unchanged, though many a lord,", "Like a weed whose shade is poison,", "Overgrows this region's foison,", "Sheaves of whom are ripe to come", "To destruction's harvest-home:", "Men must reap the things they sow,", "Force from force must ever flow,", "Or worse; but 'tis a bitter woe", "That love or reason cannot change", "The despot's rage, the slave's revenge.", "", "Padua, thou within whose walls", "Those mute guests at festivals,", "Son and Mother, Death and Sin,", "Played at dice for Ezzelin,", "Till Death cried, \"I win, I win!\"", "And Sin cursed to lose the wager,", "But Death promised, to assuage her,", "That he would petition for", "Her to be made Vice-Emperor,", "When the destined years were o'er,", "Over all between the Po", "And the eastern Alpine snow,", "Under the mighty Austrian.", "Sin smiled so as Sin only can,", "And since that time, ay, long before,", "Both have ruled from shore to shore,--", "That incestuous pair, who follow", "Tyrants as the sun the swallow,", "As Repentance follows Crime,", "And as changes follow Time.", "", "In thine halls the lamp of learning,", "Padua, now no more is burning;", "Like a meteor, whose wild way", "Is lost over the grave of day,", "It gleams betrayed and to betray:", "Once remotest nations came", "To adore that sacred flame,", "When it lit not many a hearth", "On this cold and gloomy earth:", "Now new fires from antique light", "Spring beneath the wide world's might;", "But their spark lies dead in thee,", "Trampled out by Tyranny.", "As the Norway woodman quells,", "In the depth of piny dells,", "One light flame among the brakes,", "While the boundless forest shakes,", "And its mighty trunks are torn", "By the fire thus lowly born:", "The spark beneath his feet is dead,", "He starts to see the flames it fed", "Howling through the darkened sky", "With a myriad tongues victoriously,", "And sinks down in fear: so thou,", "O Tyranny, beholdest now", "Light around thee, and thou hearest", "The loud flames ascend, and fearest:", "Grovel on the earth; ay, hide", "In the dust thy purple pride!", "", "Noon descends around me now:", "'Tis the noon of autumn's glow,", "When a soft and purple mist", "Like a vaporous amethyst,", "Or an air-dissolved star", "Mingling light and fragrance, far", "From the curved horizon's bound", "To the point of Heaven's profound,", "Fills the overflowing sky;", "And the plains that silent lie", "Underneath, the leaves unsodden", "Where the infant Frost has trodden", "With his morning-winged feet,", "Whose bright print is gleaming yet;", "And the red and golden vines,", "Piercing with their trellised lines", "The rough, dark-skirted wilderness;", "The dun and bladed grass no less,", "Pointing from this hoary tower", "In the windless air; the flower", "Glimmering at my feet; the line", "Of the olive-sandalled Apennine", "In the south dimly islanded;", "And the Alps, whose snows are spread", "High between the clouds and sun;", "And of living things each one;", "And my spirit which so long", "Darkened this swift stream of song,--", "Interpenetrated lie", "By the glory of the sky:", "Be it love, light, harmony,", "Odour, or the soul of all", "Which from Heaven like dew doth fall,", "Or the mind which feeds this verse", "Peopling the lone universe.", "", "Noon descends, and after noon", "Autumn's evening meets me soon,", "Leading the infantine moon,", "And that one star, which to her", "Almost seems to minister", "Half the crimson light she brings", "From the sunset's radiant springs:", "And the soft dreams of the morn", "(Which like winged winds had borne", "To that silent isle, which lies", "Mid remembered agonies,", "The frail bark of this lone being)", "Pass, to other sufferers fleeing,", "And its ancient pilot, Pain,", "Sits beside the helm again.", "", "Other flowering isles must be", "In the sea of Life and Agony:", "Other spirits float and flee", "O'er that gulf: even now, perhaps,", "On some rock the wild wave wraps,", "With folded wings they waiting sit", "For my bark, to pilot it", "To some calm and blooming cove,", "Where for me, and those I love,", "May a windless bower be built,", "Far from passion, pain, and guilt,", "In a dell mid lawny hills,", "Which the wild sea-murmur fills,", "And soft sunshine, and the sound", "Of old forests echoing round,", "And the light and smell divine", "Of all flowers that breathe and shine:", "We may live so happy there,", "That the Spirits of the Air,", "Envying us, may even entice", "To our healing Paradise", "The polluting multitude;", "But their rage would be subdued", "By that clime divine and calm,", "And the winds whose wings rain balm", "On the uplifted soul, and leaves", "Under which the bright sea heaves;", "While each breathless interval", "In their whisperings musical", "The inspired soul supplies", "With its own deep melodies;", "And the love which heals all strife", "Circling, like the breath of life,", "All things in that sweet abode", "With its own mild brotherhood,", "They, not it, would change; and soon", "Every sprite beneath the moon", "Would repent its envy vain,", "And the earth grow young again." ], "linecount": "374" }, { "title": "Lines Written During the Castlereagh Administration", "author": "Percy Bysshe Shelley", "lines": [ "Corpses are cold in the tomb;", "Stones on the pavement are dumb;", "Abortions are dead in the womb,", "And their mothers look pale--like the death-white shore", "Of Albion, free no more.", "", "Her sons are as stones in the way--", "They are masses of senseless clay--", "They are trodden, and move not away,--", "The abortion with which SHE travaileth", "Is Liberty, smitten to death.", "", "Then trample and dance, thou Oppressor!", "For thy victim is no redresser;", "Thou art sole lord and possessor", "Of her corpses, and clods, and abortions--they pave", "Thy path to the grave.", "", "Hearest thou the festival din", "Of Death, and Destruction, and Sin,", "And Wealth crying \"Havoc!\" within?", "'Tis the bacchanal triumph that makes Truth dumb,", "Thine Epithalamium.", "", "Ay, marry thy ghastly wife!", "Let Fear and Disquiet and Strife", "Spread thy couch in the chamber of Life!", "Marry Ruin, thou Tyrant! and Hell be thy guide", "To the bed of the bride!" ], "linecount": "25" }, { "title": "Lines to a Reviewer", "author": "Percy Bysshe Shelley", "lines": [ "Alas, good friend, what profit can you see", "In hating such a hateless thing as me?", "There is no sport in hate where all the rage", "Is on one side: in vain would you assuage", "Your frowns upon an unresisting smile,", "In which not even contempt lurks to beguile", "Your heart, by some faint sympathy of hate.", "Oh, conquer what you cannot satiate!", "For to your passion I am far more coy", "Than ever yet was coldest maid or boy", "In winter noon. Of your antipathy", "If I am the Narcissus, you are free", "To pine into a sound with hating me." ], "linecount": "13" }, { "title": "Lines", "author": "Percy Bysshe Shelley", "lines": [ "Far, far away, O ye", "Halcyons of Memory,", "Seek some far calmer nest", "Than this abandoned breast!", "No news of your false spring", "To my heart's winter bring,", "Once having gone, in vain", "Ye come again.", "", "Vultures, who build your bowers", "High in the Future's towers,", "Withered hopes on hopes are spread!", "Dying joys, choked by the dead,", "Will serve your beaks for prey", "Many a day." ], "linecount": "14" }, { "title": "Lines Written on Hearing the News of the Death of Napoleon", "author": "Percy Bysshe Shelley", "lines": [ "What! alive and so bold, O Earth?", "Art thou not overbold?", "What! leapest thou forth as of old", "In the light of thy morning mirth,", "The last of the flock of the starry fold?", "Ha! leapest thou forth as of old?", "Are not the limbs still when the ghost is fled,", "And canst thou move, Napoleon being dead?", "", "How! is not thy quick heart cold?", "What spark is alive on thy hearth?", "How! is not HIS death-knell knolled?", "And livest THOU still, Mother Earth?", "Thou wert warming thy fingers old", "O'er the embers covered and cold", "Of that most fiery spirit, when it fled--", "What, Mother, do you laugh now he is dead?", "", "'Who has known me of old,' replied Earth,", "'Or who has my story told?", "It is thou who art overbold.'", "And the lightning of scorn laughed forth", "As she sung, 'To my bosom I fold", "All my sons when their knell is knolled,", "And so with living motion all are fed,", "And the quick spring like weeds out of the dead.", "", "'Still alive and still bold,' shouted Earth,", "'I grow bolder and still more bold.", "The dead fill me ten thousandfold", "Fuller of speed, and splendour, and mirth.", "I was cloudy, and sullen, and cold,", "Like a frozen chaos uprolled,", "Till by the spirit of the mighty dead", "My heart grew warm. I feed on whom I fed.", "", "'Ay, alive and still bold.' muttered Earth,", "'Napoleon's fierce spirit rolled,", "In terror and blood and gold,", "A torrent of ruin to death from his birth.", "Leave the millions who follow to mould", "The metal before it be cold;", "And weave into his shame, which like the dead", "Shrouds me, the hopes that from his glory fled.'" ], "linecount": "40" }, { "title": "Lines: 'When the Lamp Is Shattered'", "author": "Percy Bysshe Shelley", "lines": [ "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 tones are remembered not;", "When the lips have spoken,", "Loved accents are soon forgot.", "", "As music and splendour", "Survive not the lamp and the lute,", "The heart's echoes render", "No song when the spirit is mute:--", "No song but sad dirges,", "Like the wind through a ruined cell,", "Or the mournful surges", "That ring the dead seaman's knell.", "", "When hearts have once mingled", "Love first leaves the well-built nest;", "The weak one is singled", "To endure what it once possessed.", "O Love! who bewailest", "The frailty of all things here,", "Why choose you the frailest", "For your cradle, your home, and your bier?", "", "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." ], "linecount": "32" }, { "title": "Lines Written in the Bay of Lerici", "author": "Percy Bysshe Shelley", "lines": [ "She left me at the silent time", "When the moon had ceased to climb", "The azure path of Heaven's steep,", "And like an albatross asleep,", "Balanced on her wings of light,", "Hovered in the purple night,", "Ere she sought her ocean nest", "In the chambers of the West.", "She left me, and I stayed alone", "Thinking over every tone", "Which, though silent to the ear,", "The enchanted heart could hear,", "Like notes which die when born, but still", "Haunt the echoes of the hill;", "And feeling ever--oh, too much!--", "The soft vibration of her touch,", "As if her gentle hand, even now,", "Lightly trembled on my brow;", "And thus, although she absent were,", "Memory gave me all of her", "That even Fancy dares to claim:--", "Her presence had made weak and tame", "All passions, and I lived alone", "In the time which is our own;", "The past and future were forgot,", "As they had been, and would be, not.", "But soon, the guardian angel gone,", "The daemon reassumed his throne", "In my faint heart. I dare not speak", "My thoughts, but thus disturbed and weak", "I sat and saw the vessels glide", "Over the ocean bright and wide,", "Like spirit-winged chariots sent", "O'er some serenest element", "For ministrations strange and far;", "As if to some Elysian star", "Sailed for drink to medicine", "Such sweet and bitter pain as mine.", "And the wind that winged their flight", "From the land came fresh and light,", "And the scent of winged flowers,", "And the coolness of the hours", "Of dew, and sweet warmth left by day,", "Were scattered o'er the twinkling bay.", "And the fisher with his lamp", "And spear about the low rocks damp", "Crept, and struck the fish which came", "To worship the delusive flame.", "Too happy they, whose pleasure sought", "Extinguishes all sense and thought", "Of the regret that pleasure leaves,", "Destroying life alone, not peace!" ], "linecount": "52" }, { "title": "Lines: 'We Meet Not As We Parted'", "author": "Percy Bysshe Shelley", "lines": [ "We meet not as we parted,", "We feel more than all may see;", "My bosom is heavy-hearted,", "And thine full of doubt for me:--", "One moment has bound the free.", "", "That moment is gone for ever,", "Like lightning that flashed and died--", "Like a snowflake upon the river--", "Like a sunbeam upon the tide,", "Which the dark shadows hide.", "", "That moment from time was singled", "As the first of a life of pain;", "The cup of its joy was mingled", "--Delusion too sweet though vain!", "Too sweet to be mine again.", "", "Sweet lips, could my heart have hidden", "That its life was crushed by you,", "Ye would not have then forbidden", "The death which a heart so true", "Sought in your briny dew.", "", "...", "...", "...", "Methinks too little cost", "For a moment so found, so lost!" ], "linecount": "25" } ]