'
There is also the briefer lyric named _Death_, 1817, which begins--
'They die--the dead return not. Misery
Sits near an open grave, and calls them over,
A youth with hoary hair and haggard eye.'
11. 3, 4. _'Slake in thy hearts core A wound--more fierce than his, with
tears and sighs.'_ Construe: Slake with tears and sighs a wound in thy
heart's core--a wound more fierce than his.' See (p. 101) the remarks,
apposite to st. 4, upon the use of inversion by Shelley.
1. 5. _All the Dreams that watched Urania's eyes._ We had not hitherto
heard of 'Dreams' in connexion with Urania, but only in connexion with
Adonais himself. These 'Dreams that watched Urania's eyes' appear to be
dreams in the more obvious sense of that word-visions which had haunted
the slumbers of Urania.
1. 8. _Swift as a thought by the snake memory stung._ The context
suggests that the 'thought' here in question is a grievous thought, and
the term 'the snake memory' conveys therefore a corresponding impression
of pain. Shelley however had not the usual feeling of repulsion or
abhorrence for snakes and serpents.
Pages:
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187