The Witch of Atlas by Percy Bysshe Shelley
page 9 of 29 (31%)
page 9 of 29 (31%)
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Which taught the expiations at whose price
Men from the Gods might win that happy age Too lightly lost, redeeming native vice; And which might quench the Earth-consuming rage _190 Of gold and blood--till men should live and move Harmonious as the sacred stars above; 19. And how all things that seem untameable, Not to be checked and not to be confined, Obey the spells of Wisdom's wizard skill; _195 Time, earth, and fire--the ocean and the wind, And all their shapes--and man's imperial will; And other scrolls whose writings did unbind The inmost lore of Love--let the profane Tremble to ask what secrets they contain. _200 20. And wondrous works of substances unknown, To which the enchantment of her father's power Had changed those ragged blocks of savage stone, Were heaped in the recesses of her bower; Carved lamps and chalices, and vials which shone _205 In their own golden beams--each like a flower, Out of whose depth a fire-fly shakes his light Under a cypress in a starless night. 21. At first she lived alone in this wild home, And her own thoughts were each a minister, _210 |
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