Lyric Poem · Nature
From the Greek of Moschus
1Tan ala tan glaukan otan onemos atrema Balle — k.t.l.
2When winds that move not its calm surface sweep
3The azure sea, I love the land no more;
4The smiles of the serene and tranquil deep
5Tempt my unquiet mind. — But when the roar
6Of Ocean's gray abyss resounds, and foam
7Gathers upon the sea, and vast waves burst,
8I turn from the drear aspect to the home
9Of Earth and its deep woods, where, interspersed,
10When winds blow loud, pines make sweet melody.
11Whose house is some lone bark, whose toil the sea,
12Whose prey the wandering fish, an evil lot
13Has chosen. — But I my languid limbs will fling
14Beneath the plane, where the brook's murmuring
15Moves the calm spirit, but disturbs it not.
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“From the Greek of Moschus” by Percy Bysshe Shelley — quilloak.com/poems/from-the-greek-of-moschus
Quick facts
- Poem
- From the Greek of Moschus
- Poet
- Percy Bysshe Shelley
- Length
- 15 lines
- Form
- Lyric Poem
- Themes
- Nature, Love
Craft notes
How this poem works
Measured from the text on this page, not copied from a summary. Counts are approximate: syllables and rhymes come from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary, which models General American English, so dialect, older pronunciation, and performance can all change what you hear.
- Shape
- 15 lines · 2 stanzas of 1–14 lines
- Line length
- Mostly 10-syllable lines (pentameter length).
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Text, source & rights
A traceable edition
Full-text display is based on the committed source record and a United States term-expiry review.
- Author record
- Percy Bysshe Shelley1792–1822
- Source record
- PoetryDBFrom the Greek of Moschus by percy-bysshe-shelley, PoetryDB transcription
- Display decision
- Full text · United States · reviewed 2026-07-18
- Publication record
- Not recorded in the imported source
- Text fingerprint
- SHA-256 a0d2b18413b9b289…
- Editorial handling
- Whitespace and stanza breaks normalized for web display; no material wording change recorded.