The Complete Poetical Works of Percy Bysshe Shelley (ed. Hutchinson, 1914)/To William Shelley (2)

by Percy Bysshe Shelley

For works with similar titles, see To William Shelley.

TO WILLIAM SHELLEY

[Published by Mrs. Shelley, Posthumous Works, 1824. The fragment included in the Harvard MS. book.]

 

(With what truth may I^[1] say—
Roma! Roma! Roma!
Non è più come era prima!)

 

I
My lost William, thou in whom
 Some bright spirit lived, and did
That decaying robe consume
 Which its lustre faintly hid,—
Here its ashes find a tomb. 5
 But beneath this pyramid
Thou art not—if a thing divine
Like thee can die, thy funeral shrine
Is thy mother's grief and mine.

II
Where art thou, my gentle child? 10
 Let me think thy spirit feeds,
With^[2] its life intense and mild,
 The love of living leaves and weeds
Among these tombs and ruins wild;—
 Let me think that through low seeds 15
Of sweet^[3] flowers and sunny grass
Into their hues and scents may pass
A portion———

1. To William Shelley.—Motto 1 may I Harvard MS.; I may 1824.
2. 12 With Harvard MS., Mrs. Shelley, 1847; Within 1824, 1839.
3. 16 Of sweet Harvard MS.; Of the sweet 1824, 1839.