The Complete Poetical Works of Percy Bysshe Shelley (ed. Hutchinson, 1914)/To Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin

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TO MARY WOLLSTONECRAFT GODWIN

[Composed June, 1814. Published in Posthumous Poems, 1824.]

IMine eyes were dim with tears unshed;Yes. I was firm—thus wert[1] not thou:—My baffled looks did fear[2] yet dreadTo meet thy looks—I could not knowHow anxiously they sought to shine 5With soothing pity upon mine.
IITo sit and curb the soul's mute rageWhich preys upon itself alone;To curse the life which is the cageOf fettered grief that dares not groan, 10Hiding from many a careless eyeThe scornèd load of agony.
IIIWhilst thou alone, then not regarded,Thethou alone should be,To spend years thus, and be rewarded, 15As thou, sweet love, requited meWhen none were near—Oh! I did wakeFrom torture for that moment's sake.
IVUpon my heart thy accents sweetOf peace and pity fell like dew 20On flowers half dead;—thy lips did meetMine tremblingly; thy dark eyes threwTheir[3] soft persuasion on my brain,Charming away its dream of pain.
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VWe are not happy, sweet! our stateIs strange and full of doubt and fear; 26More need of words that ills abate;—Reserve or censure come not nearOur sacred friendship, lest there beNo solace left for thee[4] and me. 30
VIGentle and good and mild thou art,Nor can I[5] live if thou appearAught but thyself, or turn thine heartAway from me, or stoop to wearThe mask of scorn, although it be 35To hide the love thou feel'st[6] for me.

  1. ↑ wert 1839; did 1824.
  2. ↑ fear 1824, 1839; yearn cj. Rossetti.
  3. ↑ Their 1839; thy 1824.
  4. ↑ thee] thou 1824, 1839.
  5. ↑ can I 1839; I can 1824.
  6. ↑ feel'st 1839; feel 1824.
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