Lyric Poem · Life
In Horologium
Inter marmoreas Leonorae pendula colles
Fortunata nimis Machina dicit horas.
Quas MANIBUS premit illa duas insensa papillas
Cur mihi sit DIGITO tangere, amata, nefas?
Full-text availability follows the United States display decision recorded below; status can differ elsewhere.
“In Horologium” by Percy Bysshe Shelley — quilloak.com/poems/in-horologium
Quick facts
- Poem
- In Horologium
- Poet
- Percy Bysshe Shelley
- Length
- 4 lines
- Form
- Lyric Poem, Short Poems
- Themes
- Life, Short
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
- 4 lines · one 4-line stanza
- Line length
- Lines run 12-15 syllables (median 14), consistent with heptameter. No single length dominates, which is normal once elision and contraction are in play.
Want the rules this form is measured against? Read what makes a lyric poem, or run your own draft through the form checker to see the same measurements on your lines. How we measure · Report a mistake
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
- PoetryDBIn Horologium 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 7239d4652af10514…
- Editorial handling
- Whitespace and stanza breaks normalized for web display; no material wording change recorded.
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