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The Complete Poetical Works of Percy Bysshe Shelley Volume III
P >> Percy Bysshe Shelley >> The Complete Poetical Works of Percy Bysshe Shelley Volume III Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 Produced by Sue Asscher
THE COMPLETE
POETICAL WORKS
OF
PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY
VOLUME 3
OXFORD EDITION.
INCLUDING MATERIALS NEVER BEFORE
PRINTED IN ANY EDITION OF THE POEMS.
EDITED WITH TEXTUAL NOTES
BY
THOMAS HUTCHINSON, M. A.
EDITOR OF THE OXFORD WORDSWORTH.
1914.
CONTENTS.
TRANSLATIONS.
HYMN TO MERCURY. TRANSLATED FROM THE GREEK OF HOMER.
HOMER'S HYMN TO CASTOR AND POLLUX.
HOMER'S HYMN TO THE MOON.
HOMER'S HYMN TO THE SUN.
HOMER'S HYMN TO THE EARTH: MOTHER OF ALL.
HOMER'S HYMN TO MINERVA.
HOMER'S HYMN TO VENUS.
THE CYCLOPS: A SATYRIC DRAMA. TRANSLATED FROM THE GREEK OF EURIPIDES.
EPIGRAMS:
1. TO STELLA. FROM THE GREEK OF PLATO.
2. KISSING HELENA. FROM THE GREEK OF PLATO.
3. SPIRIT OF PLATO. FROM THE GREEK.
4. CIRCUMSTANCE. FROM THE GREEK.
FRAGMENT OF THE ELEGY ON THE DEATH OF ADONIS. FROM THE GREEK OF BION.
FRAGMENT OF THE ELEGY ON THE DEATH OF BION. FROM THE GREEK OF MOSCHUS.
FROM THE GREEK OF MOSCHUS.
PAN, ECHO, AND THE SATYR. FROM THE GREEK OF MOSCHUS.
FROM VERGIL'S TENTH ECLOGUE.
THE SAME.
FROM VERGIL'S FOURTH GEORGIC.
SONNET. FROM THE ITALIAN OF DANTE.
THE FIRST CANZONE OF THE "CONVITO". FROM THE ITALIAN OF DANTE.
MATILDA GATHERING FLOWERS. FROM THE "PURGATORIO" OF DANTE.
FRAGMENT. ADAPTED FROM THE "VITA NUOVA" OF DANTE.
UGOLINO. "INFERNO", 33, 22-75, TRANSLATED BY MEDWIN AND CORRECTED BY SHELLEY.
SONNET. FROM THE ITALIAN OF CAVALCANTI.
SCENES FROM THE "MAGICO PRODIGIOSO". FROM THE SPANISH OF CALDERON.
STANZAS FROM CALDERON'S "CISMA DE INGLETERRA".
SCENES FROM THE "FAUST" OF GOETHE.
JUVENILIA.
QUEEN MAB. A PHILOSOPHICAL POEM.
TO HARRIET ******.
QUEEN MAB.
SHELLEY'S NOTES.
NOTE BY MRS. SHELLEY.
VERSES ON A CAT.
FRAGMENT: OMENS.
EPITAPHIUM [LATIN VERSION OF THE EPITAPH IN GRAY'S "ELEGY"].
IN HOROLOGIUM.
A DIALOGUE.
TO THE MOONBEAM.
THE SOLITARY.
TO DEATH.
LOVE'S ROSE.
EYES: A FRAGMENT.
ORIGINAL POETRY BY VICTOR AND CAZIRE.
1. 'HERE I SIT WITH MY PAPER, MY PEN AND MY INK'.
2. TO MISS -- -- [HARRIET GROVE] FROM MISS -- -- [ELIZABETH SHELLEY].
3. SONG: 'COLD, COLD IS THE BLAST'.
4. SONG: 'COME [HARRIET]! SWEET IS THE HOUR'.
5. SONG: DESPAIR.
6. SONG: SORROW.
7. SONG: HOPE.
8. SONG: TRANSLATED FROM THE ITALIAN.
9. SONG: TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN.
10. THE IRISHMAN'S SONG.
11. SONG: 'FIERCE ROARS THE MIDNIGHT STORM'.
12. SONG: TO -- [HARRIET].
13. SONG: TO -- [HARRIET].
14. SAINT EDMOND'S EVE.
15. REVENGE.
16. GHASTA; OR, THE AVENGING DEMON.
17. FRAGMENT; OR, THE TRIUMPH OF CONSCIENCE.
POEMS FROM ST. IRVYNE; OR, THE ROSICRUCIAN.
1. VICTORIA.
2. 'ON THE DARK HEIGHT OF JURA'.
3. SISTER ROSA. A BALLAD.
4. ST. IRVYNE'S TOWER.
5. BEREAVEMENT.
6. THE DROWNED LOVER.
POSTHUMOUS FRAGMENTS OF MARGARET NICHOLSON.
ADVERTISEMENT.
WAR.
FRAGMENT: SUPPOSED TO BE AN EPITHALAMIUM OF
FRANCIS RAVAILLAC AND CHARLOTTE CORDAY.
DESPAIR.
FRAGMENT.
THE SPECTRAL HORSEMAN.
MELODY TO A SCENE OF FORMER TIMES.
STANZA FROM A TRANSLATION OF THE MARSEILLAISE HYMN.
BIGOTRY'S VICTIM.
ON AN ICICLE THAT CLUNG TO THE GRASS OF A GRAVE.
LOVE.
ON A FETE AT CARLTON HOUSE: FRAGMENT.
TO A STAR.
TO MARY, WHO DIED IN THIS OPINION.
A TALE OF SOCIETY AS IT IS: FROM FACTS, 1811.
TO THE REPUBLICANS OF NORTH AMERICA.
TO IRELAND.
ON ROBERT EMMET'S GRAVE.
THE RETROSPECT: CWM ELAN, 1812.
FRAGMENT OF A SONNET: TO HARRIET.
TO HARRIET.
SONNET: TO A BALLOON LADEN WITH KNOWLEDGE.
SONNET: ON LAUNCHING SOME BOTTLES FILLED WITH KNOWLEDGE INTO THE
BRISTOL CHANNEL.
THE DEVIL'S WALK.
FRAGMENT OF A SONNET: FAREWELL TO NORTH DEVON.
ON LEAVING LONDON FOR WALES.
THE WANDERING JEW'S SOLILOQUY.
EVENING: TO HARRIET.
TO IANTHE.
SONG FROM THE WANDERING JEW.
FRAGMENT FROM THE WANDERING JEW.
TO THE QUEEN OF MY HEART.
EDITOR'S NOTES.
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL LIST OF EDITIONS.
INDEX OF FIRST LINES.
***
TRANSLATIONS.
[Of the Translations that follow a few were published by Shelley
himself, others by Mrs. Shelley in the "Posthumous Poems", 1824, or the
"Poetical Works", 1839, and the remainder by Medwin (1834, 1847),
Garnett (1862), Rossetti (1870), Forman (1876) and Locock (1903) from
the manuscript originals. Shelley's "Translations" fall between the
years 1818 and 1822.]
HYMN TO MERCURY.
TRANSLATED FROM THE GREEK OF HOMER.
[Published by Mrs. Shelley, "Posthumous Poems", 1824. This alone of the
"Translations" is included in the Harvard manuscript book. 'Fragments of
the drafts of this and the other Hymns of Homer exist among the Boscombe
manuscripts' (Forman).]
1.
Sing, Muse, the son of Maia and of Jove,
The Herald-child, king of Arcadia
And all its pastoral hills, whom in sweet love
Having been interwoven, modest May
Bore Heaven's dread Supreme. An antique grove _5
Shadowed the cavern where the lovers lay
In the deep night, unseen by Gods or Men,
And white-armed Juno slumbered sweetly then.
2.
Now, when the joy of Jove had its fulfilling,
And Heaven's tenth moon chronicled her relief, _10
She gave to light a babe all babes excelling,
A schemer subtle beyond all belief;
A shepherd of thin dreams, a cow-stealing,
A night-watching, and door-waylaying thief,
Who 'mongst the Gods was soon about to thieve, _15
And other glorious actions to achieve.
3.
The babe was born at the first peep of day;
He began playing on the lyre at noon,
And the same evening did he steal away
Apollo's herds;--the fourth day of the moon _20
On which him bore the venerable May,
From her immortal limbs he leaped full soon,
Nor long could in the sacred cradle keep,
But out to seek Apollo's herds would creep.
4.
Out of the lofty cavern wandering _25
He found a tortoise, and cried out--'A treasure!'
(For Mercury first made the tortoise sing)
The beast before the portal at his leisure
The flowery herbage was depasturing,
Moving his feet in a deliberate measure _30
Over the turf. Jove's profitable son
Eying him laughed, and laughing thus begun:--
5.
'A useful godsend are you to me now,
King of the dance, companion of the feast,
Lovely in all your nature! Welcome, you _35
Excellent plaything! Where, sweet mountain-beast,
Got you that speckled shell? Thus much I know,
You must come home with me and be my guest;
You will give joy to me, and I will do
All that is in my power to honour you. _40
6.
'Better to be at home than out of door,
So come with me; and though it has been said
That you alive defend from magic power,
I know you will sing sweetly when you're dead.'
Thus having spoken, the quaint infant bore, _45
Lifting it from the grass on which it fed
And grasping it in his delighted hold,
His treasured prize into the cavern old.
7.
Then scooping with a chisel of gray steel,
He bored the life and soul out of the beast.-- _50
Not swifter a swift thought of woe or weal
Darts through the tumult of a human breast
Which thronging cares annoy--not swifter wheel
The flashes of its torture and unrest
Out of the dizzy eyes--than Maia's son _55
All that he did devise hath featly done.
8.
...
And through the tortoise's hard stony skin
At proper distances small holes he made,
And fastened the cut stems of reeds within,
And with a piece of leather overlaid _60
The open space and fixed the cubits in,
Fitting the bridge to both, and stretched o'er all
Symphonious cords of sheep-gut rhythmical.
9.
When he had wrought the lovely instrument,
He tried the chords, and made division meet, _65
Preluding with the plectrum, and there went
Up from beneath his hand a tumult sweet
Of mighty sounds, and from his lips he sent
A strain of unpremeditated wit
Joyous and wild and wanton--such you may _70
Hear among revellers on a holiday.
10.
He sung how Jove and May of the bright sandal
Dallied in love not quite legitimate;
And his own birth, still scoffing at the scandal,
And naming his own name, did celebrate; _75
His mother's cave and servant maids he planned all
In plastic verse, her household stuff and state,
Perennial pot, trippet, and brazen pan,--
But singing, he conceived another plan.
11.
...
Seized with a sudden fancy for fresh meat, _80
He in his sacred crib deposited
The hollow lyre, and from the cavern sweet
Rushed with great leaps up to the mountain's head,
Revolving in his mind some subtle feat
Of thievish craft, such as a swindler might _85
Devise in the lone season of dun night.
12.
Lo! the great Sun under the ocean's bed has
Driven steeds and chariot--the child meanwhile strode
O'er the Pierian mountains clothed in shadows,
Where the immortal oxen of the God _90
Are pastured in the flowering unmown meadows,
And safely stalled in a remote abode.--
The archer Argicide, elate and proud,
Drove fifty from the herd, lowing aloud.
13.
He drove them wandering o'er the sandy way, _95
But, being ever mindful of his craft,
Backward and forward drove he them astray,
So that the tracks which seemed before, were aft;
His sandals then he threw to the ocean spray,
And for each foot he wrought a kind of raft _100
Of tamarisk, and tamarisk-like sprigs,
And bound them in a lump with withy twigs.
14.
And on his feet he tied these sandals light,
The trail of whose wide leaves might not betray
His track; and then, a self-sufficing wight, _105
Like a man hastening on some distant way,
He from Pieria's mountain bent his flight;
But an old man perceived the infant pass
Down green Onchestus heaped like beds with grass.
15.
The old man stood dressing his sunny vine: _110
'Halloo! old fellow with the crooked shoulder!
You grub those stumps? before they will bear wine
Methinks even you must grow a little older:
Attend, I pray, to this advice of mine,
As you would 'scape what might appal a bolder-- _115
Seeing, see not--and hearing, hear not--and--
If you have understanding--understand.'
16.
So saying, Hermes roused the oxen vast;
O'er shadowy mountain and resounding dell,
And flower-paven plains, great Hermes passed; _120
Till the black night divine, which favouring fell
Around his steps, grew gray, and morning fast
Wakened the world to work, and from her cell
Sea-strewn, the Pallantean Moon sublime
Into her watch-tower just began to climb. _125
17.
Now to Alpheus he had driven all
The broad-foreheaded oxen of the Sun;
They came unwearied to the lofty stall
And to the water-troughs which ever run
Through the fresh fields--and when with rushgrass tall, _130
Lotus and all sweet herbage, every one
Had pastured been, the great God made them move
Towards the stall in a collected drove.
18.
A mighty pile of wood the God then heaped,
And having soon conceived the mystery _135
Of fire, from two smooth laurel branches stripped
The bark, and rubbed them in his palms;--on high
Suddenly forth the burning vapour leaped
And the divine child saw delightedly.--
Mercury first found out for human weal _140
Tinder-box, matches, fire-irons, flint and steel.
19.
And fine dry logs and roots innumerous
He gathered in a delve upon the ground--
And kindled them--and instantaneous
The strength of the fierce flame was breathed around: _145
And whilst the might of glorious Vulcan thus
Wrapped the great pile with glare and roaring sound,
Hermes dragged forth two heifers, lowing loud,
Close to the fire--such might was in the God.
20.
And on the earth upon their backs he threw _150
The panting beasts, and rolled them o'er and o'er,
And bored their lives out. Without more ado
He cut up fat and flesh, and down before
The fire, on spits of wood he placed the two,
Toasting their flesh and ribs, and all the gore _155
Pursed in the bowels; and while this was done
He stretched their hides over a craggy stone.
21.
We mortals let an ox grow old, and then
Cut it up after long consideration,--
But joyous-minded Hermes from the glen _160
Drew the fat spoils to the more open station
Of a flat smooth space, and portioned them; and when
He had by lot assigned to each a ration
Of the twelve Gods, his mind became aware
Of all the joys which in religion are. _165
22.
For the sweet savour of the roasted meat
Tempted him though immortal. Natheless
He checked his haughty will and did not eat,
Though what it cost him words can scarce express,
And every wish to put such morsels sweet _170
Down his most sacred throat, he did repress;
But soon within the lofty portalled stall
He placed the fat and flesh and bones and all.
23.
And every trace of the fresh butchery
And cooking, the God soon made disappear, _175
As if it all had vanished through the sky;
He burned the hoofs and horns and head and hair,--
The insatiate fire devoured them hungrily;--
And when he saw that everything was clear,
He quenched the coal, and trampled the black dust, _180
And in the stream his bloody sandals tossed.
24.
All night he worked in the serene moonshine--
But when the light of day was spread abroad
He sought his natal mountain-peaks divine.
On his long wandering, neither Man nor God _185
Had met him, since he killed Apollo's kine,
Nor house-dog had barked at him on his road;
Now he obliquely through the keyhole passed,
Like a thin mist, or an autumnal blast.
25.
Right through the temple of the spacious cave _190
He went with soft light feet--as if his tread
Fell not on earth; no sound their falling gave;
Then to his cradle he crept quick, and spread
The swaddling-clothes about him; and the knave
Lay playing with the covering of the bed _195
With his left hand about his knees--the right
Held his beloved tortoise-lyre tight.
26.
There he lay innocent as a new-born child,
As gossips say; but though he was a God,
The Goddess, his fair mother, unbeguiled, _200
Knew all that he had done being abroad:
'Whence come you, and from what adventure wild,
You cunning rogue, and where have you abode
All the long night, clothed in your impudence?
What have you done since you departed hence? _205
27.
'Apollo soon will pass within this gate
And bind your tender body in a chain
Inextricably tight, and fast as fate,
Unless you can delude the God again,
Even when within his arms--ah, runagate! _210
A pretty torment both for Gods and Men
Your father made when he made you!'--'Dear mother,'
Replied sly Hermes, 'wherefore scold and bother?
28.
'As if I were like other babes as old,
And understood nothing of what is what; _215
And cared at all to hear my mother scold.
I in my subtle brain a scheme have got,
Which whilst the sacred stars round Heaven are rolled
Will profit you and me--nor shall our lot
Be as you counsel, without gifts or food, _220
To spend our lives in this obscure abode.
29
'But we will leave this shadow-peopled cave
And live among the Gods, and pass each day
In high communion, sharing what they have
Of profuse wealth and unexhausted prey; _225
And from the portion which my father gave
To Phoebus, I will snatch my share away,
Which if my father will not--natheless I,
Who am the king of robbers, can but try.
30.
'And, if Latona's son should find me out, _230
I'll countermine him by a deeper plan;
I'll pierce the Pythian temple-walls, though stout,
And sack the fane of everything I can--
Caldrons and tripods of great worth no doubt,
Each golden cup and polished brazen pan, _235
All the wrought tapestries and garments gay.'--
So they together talked;--meanwhile the Day
31.
Aethereal born arose out of the flood
Of flowing Ocean, bearing light to men.
Apollo passed toward the sacred wood, _240
Which from the inmost depths of its green glen
Echoes the voice of Neptune,--and there stood
On the same spot in green Onchestus then
That same old animal, the vine-dresser,
Who was employed hedging his vineyard there. _245
32.
Latona's glorious Son began:--'I pray
Tell, ancient hedger of Onchestus green,
Whether a drove of kine has passed this way,
All heifers with crooked horns? for they have been
Stolen from the herd in high Pieria, _250
Where a black bull was fed apart, between
Two woody mountains in a neighbouring glen,
And four fierce dogs watched there, unanimous as men.
33.
'And what is strange, the author of this theft
Has stolen the fatted heifers every one, _255
But the four dogs and the black bull are left:--
Stolen they were last night at set of sun,
Of their soft beds and their sweet food bereft.--
Now tell me, man born ere the world begun,
Have you seen any one pass with the cows?'-- _260
To whom the man of overhanging brows:
34.
'My friend, it would require no common skill
Justly to speak of everything I see:
On various purposes of good or ill
Many pass by my vineyard,--and to me _265
'Tis difficult to know the invisible
Thoughts, which in all those many minds may be:--
Thus much alone I certainly can say,
I tilled these vines till the decline of day,
35.
'And then I thought I saw, but dare not speak _270
With certainty of such a wondrous thing,
A child, who could not have been born a week,
Those fair-horned cattle closely following,
And in his hand he held a polished stick:
And, as on purpose, he walked wavering _275
From one side to the other of the road,
And with his face opposed the steps he trod.'
36.
Apollo hearing this, passed quickly on--
No winged omen could have shown more clear
That the deceiver was his father's son. _280
So the God wraps a purple atmosphere
Around his shoulders, and like fire is gone
To famous Pylos, seeking his kine there,
And found their track and his, yet hardly cold,
And cried--'What wonder do mine eyes behold! _285
37.
'Here are the footsteps of the horned herd
Turned back towards their fields of asphodel;--
But THESE are not the tracks of beast or bird,
Gray wolf, or bear, or lion of the dell,
Or maned Centaur--sand was never stirred _290
By man or woman thus! Inexplicable!
Who with unwearied feet could e'er impress
The sand with such enormous vestiges?
38.
'That was most strange--but this is stranger still!'
Thus having said, Phoebus impetuously _295
Sought high Cyllene's forest-cinctured hill,
And the deep cavern where dark shadows lie,
And where the ambrosial nymph with happy will
Bore the Saturnian's love-child, Mercury--
And a delightful odour from the dew _300
Of the hill pastures, at his coming, flew.
39.
And Phoebus stooped under the craggy roof
Arched over the dark cavern:--Maia's child
Perceived that he came angry, far aloof,
About the cows of which he had been beguiled; _305
And over him the fine and fragrant woof
Of his ambrosial swaddling-clothes he piled--
As among fire-brands lies a burning spark
Covered, beneath the ashes cold and dark.
40.
There, like an infant who had sucked his fill _310
And now was newly washed and put to bed,
Awake, but courting sleep with weary will,
And gathered in a lump, hands, feet, and head,
He lay, and his beloved tortoise still
He grasped and held under his shoulder-blade. _315
Phoebus the lovely mountain-goddess knew,
Not less her subtle, swindling baby, who
41.
Lay swathed in his sly wiles. Round every crook
Of the ample cavern, for his kine, Apollo
Looked sharp; and when he saw them not, he took _320
The glittering key, and opened three great hollow
Recesses in the rock--where many a nook
Was filled with the sweet food immortals swallow,
And mighty heaps of silver and of gold
Were piled within--a wonder to behold! _325
42.
And white and silver robes, all overwrought
With cunning workmanship of tracery sweet--
Except among the Gods there can be nought
In the wide world to be compared with it.
Latona's offspring, after having sought _330
His herds in every corner, thus did greet
Great Hermes:--'Little cradled rogue, declare
Of my illustrious heifers, where they are!
43.
'Speak quickly! or a quarrel between us
Must rise, and the event will be, that I _335
Shall hurl you into dismal Tartarus,
In fiery gloom to dwell eternally;
Nor shall your father nor your mother loose
The bars of that black dungeon--utterly
You shall be cast out from the light of day, _340
To rule the ghosts of men, unblessed as they.
44.
To whom thus Hermes slily answered:--'Son
Of great Latona, what a speech is this!
Why come you here to ask me what is done
With the wild oxen which it seems you miss? _345
I have not seen them, nor from any one
Have heard a word of the whole business;
If you should promise an immense reward,
I could not tell more than you now have heard.
45.
'An ox-stealer should be both tall and strong, _350
And I am but a little new-born thing,
Who, yet at least, can think of nothing wrong:--
My business is to suck, and sleep, and fling
The cradle-clothes about me all day long,--
Or half asleep, hear my sweet mother sing, _355
And to be washed in water clean and warm,
And hushed and kissed and kept secure from harm.
46.
'O, let not e'er this quarrel be averred!
The astounded Gods would laugh at you, if e'er
You should allege a story so absurd _360
As that a new-born infant forth could fare
Out of his home after a savage herd.
I was born yesterday--my small feet are
Too tender for the roads so hard and rough:--
And if you think that this is not enough, _365
47.
I swear a great oath, by my father's head,
That I stole not your cows, and that I know
Of no one else, who might, or could, or did.--
Whatever things cows are, I do not know,
For I have only heard the name.'--This said _370
He winked as fast as could be, and his brow
Was wrinkled, and a whistle loud gave he,
Like one who hears some strange absurdity.
48.
Apollo gently smiled and said:--'Ay, ay,--
You cunning little rascal, you will bore _375
Many a rich man's house, and your array
Of thieves will lay their siege before his door,
Silent as night, in night; and many a day
In the wild glens rough shepherds will deplore
That you or yours, having an appetite, _380
Met with their cattle, comrade of the night!
49.
'And this among the Gods shall be your gift,
To be considered as the lord of those
Who swindle, house-break, sheep-steal, and shop-lift;--
But now if you would not your last sleep doze; _385
Crawl out!'--Thus saying, Phoebus did uplift
The subtle infant in his swaddling clothes,
And in his arms, according to his wont,
A scheme devised the illustrious Argiphont.
50.
...
...
And sneezed and shuddered--Phoebus on the grass _390
Him threw, and whilst all that he had designed
He did perform--eager although to pass,
Apollo darted from his mighty mind
Towards the subtle babe the following scoff:--
'Do not imagine this will get you off, _395
51.
'You little swaddled child of Jove and May!
And seized him:--'By this omen I shall trace
My noble herds, and you shall lead the way.'--
Cyllenian Hermes from the grassy place,
Like one in earnest haste to get away, _400
Rose, and with hands lifted towards his face
Round both his ears up from his shoulders drew
His swaddling clothes, and--'What mean you to do
52.
'With me, you unkind God?'--said Mercury:
'Is it about these cows you tease me so? _405
I wish the race of cows were perished!--I
Stole not your cows--I do not even know
What things cows are. Alas! I well may sigh
That since I came into this world of woe,
I should have ever heard the name of one-- _410
But I appeal to the Saturnian's throne.'
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