Marianne's Dream Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABCBCDD EFEFGG HIHIJJ KBKBLL DMDMNN OPQPRRR BSBSDJ TUTVWW XYXZDDD GA2GB2C2D2C2 E2CE2CF2F2F2 G2MG2MDDD IH2IH2OODD I2DI2DDD H2A2H2A2H2H2 H2H2H2H2DD H2DH2DDD H2H2H2H2OO H2J2H2J2K2B L2M2L2M2H2H2 H2WH2WHH N2H2O2H2P2P2P2 DIDIL2L2L2A | |
A pale Dream came to a Lady fair | B |
And said A boon a boon I pray | C |
I know the secrets of the air | B |
And things are lost in the glare of day | C |
Which I can make the sleeping see | D |
If they will put their trust in me | D |
- | |
- | |
And thou shalt know of things unknown | E |
If thou wilt let me rest between | F |
The veiny lids whose fringe is thrown | E |
Over thine eyes so dark and sheen | F |
And half in hope and half in fright | G |
The Lady closed her eyes so bright | G |
- | |
- | |
At first all deadly shapes were driven | H |
Tumultuously across her sleep | I |
And o er the vast cope of bending heaven | H |
All ghastly visaged clouds did sweep | I |
And the Lady ever looked to spy | J |
If the golden sun shone forth on high | J |
- | |
- | |
And as towards the east she turned | K |
She saw aloft in the morning air | B |
Which now with hues of sunrise burned | K |
A great black Anchor rising there | B |
And wherever the Lady turned her eyes | L |
It hung before her in the skies | L |
- | |
- | |
The sky was blue as the summer sea | D |
The depths were cloudless overhead | M |
The air was calm as it could be | D |
There was no sight or sound of dread | M |
But that black Anchor floating still | N |
Over the piny eastern hill | N |
- | |
- | |
The Lady grew sick with a weight of fear | O |
To see that Anchor ever hanging | P |
And veiled her eyes she then did hear | Q |
The sound as of a dim low clanging | P |
And looked abroad if she might know | R |
Was it aught else or but the flow | R |
Of the blood in her own veins to and fro | R |
- | |
- | |
There was a mist in the sunless air | B |
Which shook as it were with an earthquake s shock | S |
But the very weeds that blossomed there | B |
Were moveless and each mighty rock | S |
Stood on its basis steadfastly | D |
The Anchor was seen no more on high | J |
- | |
- | |
But piled around with summits hid | T |
In lines of cloud at intervals | U |
Stood many a mountain pyramid | T |
Among whose everlasting walls | V |
Two mighty cities shone and ever | W |
Through the red mist their domes did quiver | W |
- | |
- | |
On two dread mountains from whose crest | X |
Might seem the eagle for her brood | Y |
Would ne er have hung her dizzy nest | X |
Those tower encircled cities stood | Z |
A vision strange such towers to see | D |
Sculptured and wrought so gorgeously | D |
Where human art could never be | D |
- | |
- | |
And columns framed of marble white | G |
And giant fanes dome over dome | A2 |
Piled and triumphant gates all bright | G |
With workmanship which could not come | B2 |
From touch of mortal instrument | C2 |
Shot o er the vales or lustre lent | D2 |
From its own shapes magnificent | C2 |
- | |
- | |
But still the Lady heard that clang | E2 |
Filling the wide air far away | C |
And still the mist whose light did hang | E2 |
Among the mountains shook alway | C |
So that the Lady s heart beat fast | F2 |
As half in joy and half aghast | F2 |
On those high domes her look she cast | F2 |
- | |
- | |
Sudden from out that city sprung | G2 |
A light that made the earth grow red | M |
Two flames that each with quivering tongue | G2 |
Licked its high domes and overhead | M |
Among those mighty towers and fanes | D |
Dropped fire as a volcano rains | D |
Its sulphurous ruin on the plains | D |
- | |
- | |
And hark a rush as if the deep | I |
Had burst its bonds she looked behind | H2 |
And saw over the western steep | I |
A raging flood descend and wind | H2 |
Through that wide vale she felt no fear | O |
But said within herself Tis clear | O |
These towers are Nature s own and she | D |
To save them has sent forth the sea | D |
- | |
- | |
And now those raging billows came | I2 |
Where that fair Lady sate and she | D |
Was borne towards the showering flame | I2 |
By the wild waves heaped tumultuously | D |
And on a little plank the flow | D |
Of the whirlpool bore her to and fro | D |
- | |
- | |
The flames were fiercely vomited | H2 |
From every tower and every dome | A2 |
And dreary light did widely shed | H2 |
O er that vast flood s suspended foam | A2 |
Beneath the smoke which hung its night | H2 |
On the stained cope of heaven s light | H2 |
- | |
- | |
The plank whereon that Lady sate | H2 |
Was driven through the chasms about and about | H2 |
Between the peaks so desolate | H2 |
Of the drowning mountains in and out | H2 |
As the thistle beard on a whirlwind sails | D |
While the flood was filling those hollow vales | D |
- | |
- | |
At last her plank an eddy crossed | H2 |
And bore her to the city s wall | D |
Which now the flood had reached almost | H2 |
It might the stoutest heart appal | D |
To hear the fire roar and hiss | D |
Through the domes of those mighty palaces | D |
- | |
- | |
The eddy whirled her round and round | H2 |
Before a gorgeous gate which stood | H2 |
Piercing the clouds of smoke which bound | H2 |
Its aery arch with light like blood | H2 |
She looked on that gate of marble clear | O |
With wonder that extinguished fear | O |
- | |
- | |
For it was filled with sculptures rarest | H2 |
Of forms most beautiful and strange | J2 |
Like nothing human but the fairest | H2 |
Of winged shapes whose legions range | J2 |
Throughout the sleep of those that are | K2 |
Like this same Lady good and fair | B |
- | |
- | |
And as she looked still lovelier grew | L2 |
Those marble forms the sculptor sure | M2 |
Was a strong spirit and the hue | L2 |
Of his own mind did there endure | M2 |
After the touch whose power had braided | H2 |
Such grace was in some sad change faded | H2 |
- | |
- | |
She looked the flames were dim the flood | H2 |
Grew tranquil as a woodland river | W |
Winding through hills in solitude | H2 |
Those marble shapes then seemed to quiver | W |
And their fair limbs to float in motion | H |
Like weeds unfolding in the ocean | H |
- | |
- | |
And their lips moved one seemed to speak | N2 |
When suddenly the mountains cracked | H2 |
And through the chasm the flood did break | O2 |
With an earth uplifting cataract | H2 |
The statues gave a joyous scream | P2 |
And on its wings the pale thin Dream | P2 |
Lifted the Lady from the stream | P2 |
- | |
- | |
The dizzy flight of that phantom pale | D |
Waked the fair Lady from her sleep | I |
And she arose while from the veil | D |
Of her dark eyes the Dream did creep | I |
And she walked about as one who knew | L2 |
That sleep has sights as clear and true | L2 |
As any waking eyes can view | L2 |
Percy Bysshe Shelley
(1)
Poem topics: , Print This Poem , Rhyme Scheme
Submit Spanish Translation
Submit German Translation
Submit French Translation
Write your comment about Marianne's Dream poem by Percy Bysshe Shelley
Best Poems of Percy Bysshe Shelley