Lyric Poem · Love

Kissing Helena

by Percy Bysshe Shelley

FROM THE GREEK OF PLATO.

Kissing Helena, together

With my kiss, my soul beside it

Came to my lips, and there I kept it, —

For the poor thing had wandered thither,

To follow where the kiss should guide it,

Oh, cruel I, to intercept it!

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“Kissing Helena” by Percy Bysshe Shelley — quilloak.com/poems/kissing-helena

Quick facts

Poem: Kissing Helena
Poet: Percy Bysshe Shelley
Length: 7 lines
Form: Lyric Poem, Short Poems
Themes: Love, Peace, 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: 7 lines · 2 stanzas of 1–6 lines
Line length: Lines run 6-9 syllables (median 9). No single length dominates, which is normal once elision and contraction are in play.

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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: PoetryDBKissing Helena 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 d0654c5758af1765…
Editorial handling: Whitespace and stanza breaks normalized for web display; no material wording change recorded.

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Lyric Poem Short Poems Love Peace Short

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