The plank whereon that Lady sate Was a strong spirit, and the hue Of his own mind did there endure 92 flames cj. Rossetti; waves 1819, 1824, 1839. IOI mountains 1819; mountain 1824, 1839. 106 flood] flames cj. James Thomson (' B.V.'). 120 that 1819, 1824 ; who 1839. After the touch, whose power had | And through the chasm the flood 126 braided Such grace, was in some sad change faded. And their lips moved; one seemed to speak, When suddenly the mountains cracked, did break That sleep has sights as clear and true 135 As any waking eyes can view. TO CONSTANTIA, SINGING [Published by Mrs. Shelley in Posthumous Poems, 1824. Amongst the Shelley MSS. at the Bodleian is a chaotic first draft, from which Mr. Locock [Examination, &c., 1903, pp. 60-62] has, with patient ingenuity, disengaged a first and a second stanza consistent with the metrical scheme of stanzas iii and iv. The two stanzas thus recovered are printed here immediately below the poem as edited by Mrs. Shelley. It need hardly be added that Mr. Locock's restored version cannot, any more than Mrs. Shelley's obviously imperfect one, be regarded in the light of a final recension.] I THUS to be lost and thus to sink and die, Perchance were death indeed!-Constantia, turn! In thy dark eyes a power like light doth lie, Even though the sounds which were thy voice, which burn Within thy breath, and on thy hair, like odour, it is yet, And from thy touch like fire doth leap. Even while I write, my burning cheeks are wet, Alas, that the torn heart can bleed, but not forget! II A breathless awe, like the swift change Wild, sweet, but uncommunicably strange, And on my shoulders wings are woven, 135 mountains 1819; mountain 1824, 1839. 5 10 15 To follow its sublime career Beyond the mighty moons that wane Upon the verge of Nature's utmost sphere, Till the world's shadowy walls are past and disappear. III Her voice is hovering o'er my soul-it lingers My heart is quivering like a flame; As morning dew, that in the sunbeam dies, IV I have no life, Constantia, now, but thee, Rejoicing like a cloud of morn. sweep, Now 'tis the breath of summer night, Which when the starry waters sleep, Round western isles, with incense-blossoms bright, Lingering, suspends my soul in its voluptuous flight. STANZAS I AND II As restored by Mr. C. D. Locock I Cease, cease for such wild lessons madmen learn And from thy touch like fire doth leap Even while I write, my burning cheeks are wet- II [A deep and breathless awe like the swift change Of dreams unseen but felt in youthful slumbers Wild sweet yet incommunicably strange Thou breathest now in fast ascending numbers. . . TO CONSTANTIA [Dated 1817 by Mrs. Shelley, and printed by her in the Poetical Works, 1839, 1st edition. A copy exists amongst the Shelley MSS. at the Bodleian. See Mr. C. D. Locock's Examination, &c., 1903, p. 46.] I THE rose that drinks the fountain dew Grows pale and blue with altered hue In the gaze of the nightly moon; For the planet of frost, so cold and bright, II Such is my heart-roses are fair, And that at best a withered blossom; Its withered leaves in a faithless bosom; FRAGMENT: TO ONE SINGING [Dated 1817 by Mrs. Shelley, and published in the Poetical Works, 1839, 1st edition. The MS. original, by which Mr. Locock has revised and (by one line) enlarged the text, is amongst the Shelley MSS. at the Bodleian. The metre, as Mr. Locock (Examination, &c., 1903, p. 63) points out, is terza rima.] My spirit like a charmèd bark doth swim Upon the liquid waves of thy sweet singing, Far far away into the regions dim Of rapture-as a boat, with swift sails winging Speeds through dark forests o'er the waters swinging. . . A FRAGMENT: TO MUSIC [Published in Poetical Works, 1839, 1st ed. Dated 1817 (Mrs. Shelley).] SILVER key of the fountain of tears, Where the spirit drinks till the brain is wild; Softest grave of a thousand fears, Where their mother, Care, like a drowsy child, ANOTHER FRAGMENT TO MUSIC [Published in Poetical Works, 1839, 1st ed. Dated 1817 (Mrs. Shelley).] No, Music, thou art not the 'food of Love.' Till it becomes all Music murmurs of. To Constantia-1 The rose] The red Rose B. 6 her omitted B. 2 pleasant] fragrant B. To One Singing-3 Far far away B.; Far away 1839. 6 Speeds... swinging B.; omitted 1839. 5 10 5 5 'MIGHTY EAGLE' SUPPOSED TO BE ADDRESSED TO WILLIAM GODWIN [Published in 1882 (P. W. of B. P. S.) by Mr. H. Buxton Forman, TO THE LORD CHANCELLOR [Published in part (v-ix, xiv) by Mrs. Shelley, P. W., 1839, 1st ed. (without title); in full 2nd ed. (with title). Four transcripts in Mrs. Shelley's hand are extant: two-Leigh Hunt's and Ch. Cowden Clarke's described by Forman, and two belonging to Mr. C. W. Frederickson of Brooklyn, described by Woodberry [P. W., Centenary Edition, iii. 193-6]. One of the latter (here referred to as Fa) is corrected in Shelley's autograph. A much-corrected draft in Shelley's hand is in the Harvard MS. book.] I THY Country's curse is on thee, darkest crest II Thy country's curse is on thee! Justice sold, And heaps of fraud-accumulated gold, Plead, loud as thunder, at Destruction's throne. III And, whilst that sure slow Angel which aye stands Delays to execute her high commands, And, though a nation weeps, spares thine and thee, IV Oh, let a father's curse be on thy soul, And let a daughter's hope be on thy tomb; To weigh thee down to thine approaching doom! V I curse thee by a parent's outraged love, 9 Angel which aye cancelled by Shelley for Fate which ever Fa. 5 IC 15 20 7 |