The Complete Poetical Works of Percy Bysshe Shelley (ed. Hutchinson, 1914)/Invocation to Misery
INVOCATION TO MISERY
[Published by Medwin, The Athenæum, Sept. 8, 1832. Reprinted (as Misery, a Fragment) by Mrs. Shelley, Poetical Works, 1839, 1st ed. Our text is that of 1839. A pencil copy of this poem is amongst the Shelley MSS. at the Bodleian Library. See Mr. C. D. Locock's Examination, &c, 1903, p. 38. The readings of this copy are indicated by the letter B. in the footnotes.]
i.
Shadow-vested Misery:
Coy, unwilling, silent bride,
Mourning in thy robe of pride,
Desolation—deified! 5
ii.
Sad as I may seem to thee,
I am happier far[2] than thou,
Lady, whose imperial brow
Is endiademed with woe. 10
iii.
Like a sister and a brother
Living in the same lone home,
Many years—we must live some
Hours or[3] ages yet to come. 15
iv.
Let us make the best[4] of it;
If love can live when pleasure dies,
We two will[5] love, till in our eyes
This heart's Hell seem Paradise. 20
v.
On the fresh grass newly mown,
Where the Grasshopper doth sing
Merrily—one joyous thing
In a world of sorrowing! 25
vi.
And mine arm shall be thy[6] pillow;
Sounds and odours, sorrowful
Because they once were sweet, shall lull
Us to slumber, deep and dull. 30
vii.
With a love thou darest not utter.
Thou art murmuring—thou art weeping—[7]
Is thine icy bosom leaping
While my burning hearthes sleeping?[8] 35
viii.
Round my neck thine arms enfold—
They are soft, but chill and dead;
And thy tears upon my head
Burn like points of frozen[9] lead. 40
ix.
Underneath the grave 'tis spread:
In darkness may our love be hid,
Oblivion be[10] our coverlid—
We may rest, and none forbid. 45
x.
Like two shadows[11] into one;
Till this dreadful transport may
Like a vapour fade away,
In the sleep that lasts alway. 50
xi.
That we are not those who weep;
E'en as Pleasure dreams of thee,
Life-deserting Misery,
Thou mayst dream of her with me. 55
xii.
At the shadows of the earth,
As dogs bay the moonlight clouds.
Which[12], like spectres wrapped in shrouds,
Pass o'er night in multitudes. 60
xiii.
Show[13] like multitudinous
Puppets passing[14] from a scene;
What but mockery can they mean,
Where I am—where thou hast been?[15] 65
- ↑ Invocation to Misery—i near B., 1839; by 1832.
- ↑ happier far] merrier yet B.
- ↑ Hours or] Years and 1832.
- ↑ best] most 1832.
- ↑ We two will] We will 1832.
- ↑ mine arm shall be thy B., 1839; thine arm shall be my 1832.
- ↑ represented by asterisks, 1832.
- ↑ Thou art murmuring, thou art weeping, Whilst my burning bosom's leaping 1832; Was thine icy bosom leaping While my burning heart was sleeping B.
- ↑ frozen 1832, 1839, B.; molten cj. Forman.
- ↑ be] is B.
- ↑ shadows] lovers 1832, B.
- ↑ which B., 1839; that 1832.
- ↑ Show] Are 1832, B.
- ↑ Puppets passing] Shadows shifting 1832; Shadows passing B.
- ↑ So B.; What but mockery may they mean? Where am I?—Where thou hast been 1832.