Bereavement

How stern are the woes of the desolate mourner

As he bends in still grief o'er the hallowed bier,

As enanguished he turns from the laugh of the scorner,

And drops to perfection's remembrance a tear;

When floods of despair down his pale cheeks are streaming,

When no blissful hope on his bosom is beaming,

Or, if lulled for a while, soon he starts from his dreaming,

And finds torn the soft ties to affection so dear.

II.

Ah! when shall day dawn on the night of the grave,

Or summer succeed to the winter of death?

Rest awhle, hapless victim! and Heaven will save

The spirit that hath faded away with the breath.

Eternity points, in its amaranth bower

Where no clouds of fate o'er the sweet prospect lour,

Unspeakable pleasure, of goodness the dower,

When woe fades away like the mist of the heath.

Percy Bysshe Shelley

Known for his lyrical and long-form verse, Percy Bysshe Shelley was a prominent English Romantic poet and was one of the most highly regarded and influential poets of the 19th century. Born on August 4, 1792—the year of the Terror in France—Percy Bysshe Shelley (the “Bysshe” from his grandfather, a peer of the realm) was the son of Timothy and Elizabeth Shelley. As the elder son among one brother, John, and four sisters, Elizabeth, Mary, Margaret, and Hellen, Percy stood in line not only to inherit his grandfather’s considerable estate but also to sit in Parliament one day. In his position as oldest male child, young Percy was beloved and admired by his sisters, his parents, and even the servants in his early reign as young lord of Field Place, the family home near Horsham, Sussex. Playful and imaginative, he devised games to play with his sisters and told ghost stories to an enrapt and willing-to-be-thrilled audience.

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