"A godlike mind soars forth, in its delight / Making earth bare and veiling heaven, and when / It sinks, the swarms that dimmed or shared its light / Leave to its kindred lamps the spirit's awful night."
— Shelley, Percy Bysshe (1792-1822)
Place of Publication
Pisa
Date
1821
Metaphor
"A godlike mind soars forth, in its delight / Making earth bare and veiling heaven, and when / It sinks, the swarms that dimmed or shared its light / Leave to its kindred lamps the spirit's awful night."
Metaphor in Context
'The sun comes forth, and many reptiles spawn;
He sets, and each ephemeral insect then
Is gathered into death without a dawn,
And the immortal stars awake again;
So is it in the world of living men:
A godlike mind soars forth, in its delight
Making earth bare and veiling heaven, and when
It sinks, the swarms that dimmed or shared its light
Leave to its kindred lamps the spirit's awful night.'
(ll. 253-61)
He sets, and each ephemeral insect then
Is gathered into death without a dawn,
And the immortal stars awake again;
So is it in the world of living men:
A godlike mind soars forth, in its delight
Making earth bare and veiling heaven, and when
It sinks, the swarms that dimmed or shared its light
Leave to its kindred lamps the spirit's awful night.'
(ll. 253-61)
Categories
Provenance
Reading
Citation
Shelley's Poetry and Prose. Norton Critical Edition. Ed. Donald H. Reiman and Sharon B. Powers. New York: Norton, 1977.
Theme
Enlightenment
Date of Entry
05/27/2008
