The Solitary
Percy Bysshe Shelley 1792 (Horsham) – 1822 (Lerici)
I.
Dar’st thou amid the varied multitude
To live alone, an isolated thing?
To see the busy beings round thee spring,
And care for none; in thy calm solitude,
A flower that scarce breathes in the desert rude
To Zephyr’s passing wing?
II.
Not the swart Pariah in some Indian grove,
Lone, lean, and hunted by his brother’s hate,
Hath drunk so deep the cup of bitter fate
As that poor wretch who cannot, cannot love:
He bears a load which nothing can remove,
A killing, withering weight.
III.
He smiles--'tis sorrow's deadliest mockery;
He speaks--the cold words flow not from his soul;
He acts like others, drains the genial bowl,--
Yet, yet he longs--although he fears--to die;
He pants to reach what yet he seems to fly,
Dull life's extremest goal.
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 27, 2023
- 41 sec read
- 247 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | ABCCBBC AXDDXXD AXEEAAE |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 743 |
Words | 135 |
Stanzas | 3 |
Stanza Lengths | 7, 7, 7 |
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"The Solitary" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 8 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/29277/the-solitary>.
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