Percy Bysshe Shelley - Evening lyrics

TO HARRIET [Published by Dowden, "Life of Shelley", 1887. Composed July 31, 1813.] O thou bright Sun! beneath the dark blue line Of western distance that sublime descendest, And, gleaming lovelier as thy beams decline, Thy million hues to every vapour lendest, And, over cobweb lawn and grove and stream Sheddest the liquid magic of thy light, Till calm Earth, with the parting splendour bright, Shows like the vision of a beauteous dream; What gazer now with astronomic eye Could coldly count the spots within thy sphere? Such were thy lover, Harriet, could he fly The thoughts of all that makes his pa**ion dear, And, turning senseless from thy warm caress,— Pick flaws in our close-woven happiness. *** TO IANTHE [Published by Dowden, "Life of Shelley", 1887. Composed September, 1813.] I love thee, Baby! for thine own sweet sake; Those azure eyes, that faintly dimpled cheek, Thy tender frame, so eloquently weak, Love in the sternest heart of hate might wake; But more when o'er thy fitful slumber bending Thy mother folds thee to her wakeful heart, Whilst love and pity, in her glances blending, All that thy pa**ive eyes can feel impart: More, when some feeble lineaments of her, Who bore thy weight beneath her spotless bosom, As with deep love I read thy face, recur,— More dear art thou, O fair and fragile blossom; Dearest when most thy tender traits express The image of thy mother's loveliness. ***